Speeches by Carden.

“What this Committee has been led to believe is that red flags and denials of clearance were part of this. The bit I think you can help us with is the process through which Olly Robbins finds himself sacked. You have been following this as closely as anybody else. Just to phrase the question differently, do you understa…”

“Who would then make that decision?”

“The letter last night says that it is “unusual but not exceptional” for UKSV recommendations to differ to the final FCDO decision on vetting, but it says that there is “more than one a month” of those cases. But you are saying that they are not raised to the permanent secretary level?”

“We have gone around this issue of due diligence in vetting over and over again. I am surprised that you have never seen a DV report—is that correct?”

“Can I pick up on one point? In the letter last night, it says it is “unusual” where there is a difference between UKSV recommendation and FCDO sign off, but it says that there is “more than one a month.””

“That would align with what Sir Olly told us about having only an oral briefing. We now have two people—him and Ian Collard—telling us that this was a borderline case.”

“In the end, the FCDO is a “make recommendations” Department, because it takes responsibility for passing clearance and has the power to manage risks and to mitigate those risks. That is the process that all the evidence that we have seen shows us has happened, which also aligns with what the Prime Minister has said—tha…”

“That would align with what Sir Olly told us about having only an oral briefing. We now have two people—him and Ian Collard—telling us that this was a borderline case.”

“What this Committee has been led to believe is that red flags and denials of clearance were part of this. The bit I think you can help us with is the process through which Olly Robbins finds himself sacked. You have been following this as closely as anybody else. Just to phrase the question differently, do you understa…”

“The letter last night says that it is “unusual but not exceptional” for UKSV recommendations to differ to the final FCDO decision on vetting, but it says that there is “more than one a month” of those cases. But you are saying that they are not raised to the permanent secretary level?”

“Who would then make that decision?”

“In the end, the FCDO is a “make recommendations” Department, because it takes responsibility for passing clearance and has the power to manage risks and to mitigate those risks. That is the process that all the evidence that we have seen shows us has happened, which also aligns with what the Prime Minister has said—tha…”

“Can I pick up on one point? In the letter last night, it says it is “unusual” where there is a difference between UKSV recommendation and FCDO sign off, but it says that there is “more than one a month.””

“We have gone around this issue of due diligence in vetting over and over again. I am surprised that you have never seen a DV report—is that correct?”

“I suppose I am looking for the reason why Sir Philip Barton’s departure from the FCDO came at such a critical time in this process.”

“I don’t want you to comment on it; I want to know if we are going to see notes and minutes of discussions and decisions that were made when it comes to the reason why he left the FCDO before he was meant to.”

“Would that be recorded within the FCDO or UKSV?”

“I want to return to the timeline around December and January. Anyone can correct me if this is wrong, but I think it is right that the decision to appoint Mandelson was on 18 December. The announcement was made on the 20th. Vetting began on the 23rd. Olly Robbins became the permanent under-secretary on 20 January. In t…”

“I think you have accepted today that due process was followed throughout the vetting process. I just want to clarify that that means the decision maker for passing vetting was Olly Robbins.”

“Sir Olly did say to the Committee that there is internal guidance on this, which says: “Where we do find a risk, we always try to manage it through our aftercare programme or risk mitigation.””