Sir Olly Robbins was "thrown under the bus" when he was sacked from his job as the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, a former Whitehall official has said.Lord Simon McDonald, ex-permanent secretary in the Foreign Office, said Sir Olly was a "scalp" for Number 10 after it emerged this week the department overruled concerns raised during the vetting process to appoint Lord Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington.

Sir Olly Robbins was "thrown under the bus" when he was sacked from his job as the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, a former Whitehall official has said.Lord Simon McDonald, ex-permanent secretary in the Foreign Office, said Sir Olly was a "scalp" for Number 10 after it emerged this week the department overruled concerns raised during the vetting process to appoint Lord Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington.