Sir Olly Robbins's revenge: Sacked Foreign Offic chief's explosive testimony

Keir Starmer's hopes of surviving the Mandelson scandal were dealt a hammer blow today as his sacked Foreign Office chief said he was 'pressured' into waving through the appointment.In explosive testimony to MPs, Sir Olly Robbins said No10 'chased' the posting as US ambassador and was 'dismissive' of the need for any security vetting.The intervention came after the mandarin was squarely blamed by Sir Keir for failing to tell him officials had advised against giving Mandelson the key job.During a marathon Commons appearance last night - during which the Labour benches alarmingly emptied behind him - Sir Keir said he had been 'deliberately' kept in the dark.But Sir Olly - who took on his role after Mandelson was announced, but before he was formally confirmed in post - said there was an 'atmosphere of pressure'.