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Sir Simon McDonald said No 10 ‘wanted a scalp’ but removal of Robbins from Foreign Office felt ‘wrong’
Sir Olly Robbins was “basically thrown under the bus” as a result of the “biggest diplomatic crisis” in over 40 years, according to Lord Simon McDonald.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday, Lord McDonald, an ex-permanent secretary in the Foreign Office, described Robbins as a “scalp” that the government needed after the Guardian revealed that Peter Mandelson had been appointed as ambassador to the US despite failing his vetting process.
Yes. This story broke on Thursday morning in a piece in The Guardian – within the news cycle Olly Robbins had been required to resign.
This shows to me that Number 10 wanted a scalp and they wanted it quickly and I cannot see that there was any process, any fairness, any giving him the chance to set out his case, and that feels to me wrong.
Violence against women and girls is a national emergency which must be urgently tackled.
Sadly, we haven’t seen that urgency from the Scottish Government to date, who shelved their plans.
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