Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief-of-staff allegedly made the demand to Sir Philip Barton, the predecessor of ousted Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins

Morgan McSweeney told a senior official to “just f***ing approve it” in relation to Lord Mandelson’s security vetting, MPs heard yesterday.

Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief-of-staff allegedly made the demand to Sir Philip Barton, the predecessor of ousted Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins.

Sir Olly told the foreign affairs select committee that there was a “dismissive approach” to Peter Mandelson’s security checks for US ambassador from No 10 as the scandal threatened to spiral out of control last night.

The kicked-out civil servant gave a robust defence of his actions over the vetting, after the Prime Minister had accused him of a cover-up.

He insisted there was a “very, very strong expectation” from within Downing Street that Lord Mandelson, a pal of paedo financier Jeffrey Epstein, should be “in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible”.

Sir Olly said it would have been “very difficult” if Mandy’s clearance had been denied as the Government wanted him in place before Donald Trump ’s inauguration.

He claimed there were fears that retracting the appointment could have caused “quite an issue” in the special relationship between America and the UK.

And he did not deny claims that McSweeney told his predecessor Sir Philip to “just f***ing approve it”.

Sir Olly said that his handover contributed to “my strong sense that there was an atmosphere of pressure and a certain sense of dismissiveness” about the vetting process.

MPs on the foreign affairs committee said UK Security Vetting (UKSV) had ticked two red boxes on Lord Mandelson’s form.

This meant they had “high concern” and recommended “clearance denied or withdrawn”.

Sir Olly said he had never seen that form when making the decision on Lord Mandelson’s clearance as US Ambassador.

But he claimed Foreign Office security staff told him that “UKSV considered Mandelson a borderline case and that they were leaning towards recommending that clearance be denied”.

The Whitehall veteran said he does not “fully understand” the reasons why he was sacked and is “desperately sad” about it.

Sir Olly received the formal letter confirming he had been fired on Monday and has “sought advice” on it, indicating there could be a legal battle to come.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said both he and then-foreign secretary David Lammy had worries about Lord Mandelson being given the US ambassador job.

He told Sky News that he thought the appointment “could blow up, that it could go wrong”.

Mr Miliband said: “I steered well clear of Peter Mandelson when I became Labour leader in 2010.

“I had a conversation with David Lammy about it before the appointment, and I said I was worried about it.

“I think he was worried about it too.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the evidence from Sir Olly is “devastating” and claimed it showed the PM “misled the House”.

She said: “This cannot go on. This House deserves better.mThe country deserves better. The Prime Minister is not fit for office.

“The first duty of any Prime Minister is to keep this country safe. This Prime Minister has put the country’s national security at risk.

“He must take responsibility. It is time for him to go.”

Sir Keir told his Cabinet yesterday (Tues) that Sir Olly was “a man of integrity and professionalism” who made an “error of judgment”.

Downing Street has denied claims of a dismissive approach towards the process.

In September, revelations about the extent of Mandelson’s long-standing association with Epstein ultimately resulted in his dismissal as the British ambassador to the United States.

Mandelson came under heavy scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein after a birthday book was released, including a letter purportedly from Mandelson describing Epstein as “my best pal”.

ends

Industry leaders warned of a bitterly cold winter as we won’t be able to fill our gas reserves back up in Britain in time for a cold snap due to the ongoing conflict

Britain is facing a freezing winter of discontent unless the war in the Middle East ends soon, experts warn. Industry leaders fear cars will be forced to go no faster than 50mph as fuel prices surge across the globe.

And they warned of a bitterly cold winter as we won’t be able to fill our gas reserves back up in Britain in time for a cold snap. Ashley Kelty, of investment bank Panmure Liberum, said that “even if the rockets stop tomorrow” it will take a month to get back to normality.

He added that Britain faces a “very challenging” winter, as even if the conflict comes to an end the nation will struggle to refill its gas storage ahead of the cold months. Callum MacPherson, head of commodities at Investec, reckons that people “would have to travel less” if the war went on and hit oil and fuel supplies.

He said: “If you do not have enough fuel, governments have to think very carefully about how they use the fuel they have.”

Adam Bell, a former government energy official at consultancy Stonehaven, said home-working guidance may be needed to curb energy consumption on things like public transport and office buildings.

Jennifer McKeown, chief global economist from Capital Economics, said: “The energy-intensive sectors of industry, hotels and retail, are likely to be hit the hardest.

“The sharp increase in the cost of energy is going to mean that it is quite likely that industrial production will need to be cut back.”

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), warned that the current energy supply shock is worse than the 1970s.

The IEA has called for car-free Sundays globally and urged people to work from home three days a week to conserve fuel.

But the Government here is convinced the UK has enough fuel and their biggest concern is to avoid panic buying that could create fresh problems.

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