Sir Olly Robbins appeared before the UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday. The former top mandarin in the Foreign Office was explaining his role in Lord Peter Mandelson scandal. And he put on quite a show.
Throughout the session, Sir Olly seemed calm and confident. The very best of the civil service. But he came to play to the cameras too. The key TV moment was when he revealed that 10 Downing Street wanted Lord Matthew Doyle, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s former director of communications, to get an ambassadorial role. That despite the fact he lost the Labour whip after campaigning for Sean Morton, after the Labour councillor had been charged with possessing and distributing indecent images of children back in December 2016.
Sir Olly also evoked sympathy. He made clear his sadness at losing a role he clearly loved. There will be plenty of clips that will make Sir Keir very worried indeed.
Sir Olly Lands Punch, but is Not The Only Star
The session was led by committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry. As Telegraph sketchwriter and podcaster Tim Stanley noted, she “has the right mix of authority and camp”.
Dame Emily’s highlight came when, after one of her colleagues had decline to drop an f-bomb, she quoted former chief of staff Morgan Mcsweeney as saying “just fucking approve it”. It’s always enjoyable to have a BBC iPlayer live stream from parliament going with a “strong language” warning at the top. Just the stuff we allowed cameras into palace for.,
No such behaviour from Sir Olly Robbins. Some might trying to dismiss this increasingly technical scandal as a Westminster bubble story. I think that is patronising to the general public. At times prime ministers get knocked out. At others they have to take a knee and try and get through the count. The outcome, ultimately, is often the same.
What’s clear from this morning’s TV showing, is that Sir Keir Starmer has picked the wrong person to have a fight with. Local elections are coming and, it feels like the end of his premiership is too.
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