“What we want is the truth,” Congresswoman Rachael Maskell told POLITICO. “Now that different details of Mr Mandelson’s security clearance have been revealed we need to be held accountable for why we were given a different version of events.”
The loyal MP, who did not want to be named to discuss internal party matters, said on Thursday night: “This is bad, very bad. There are so many things going on, I don’t know if it will be the end, but it certainly could be.”
Robbins’ stone path
Robbins’ departure is the latest upheaval in a Whitehall career that has seen the senior official – once recognized as the country’s top civil servant – take an increasingly political turn.
Robbins served as chief Brexit negotiator during Theresa May’s prime ministership. As talks with Brussels appeared to be steering Britain towards a compromise, he found himself lashed out by hard-line Tory MPs and the press, earning the nickname “the Prime Minister’s Rasputin” in a Times article.
When May was finally ousted in 2019, replaced by Boris Johnson, Robbins left government too.
He went on to roles at Goldman Sachs and then the Hakluyt consulting service. His return to public service came in 2025 as head of the Foreign Office under Starmer’s Labor government.
