Ex-Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins seeking judicial review over his sacking – UK politics live

Robbins is suing the government over Keir Starmer’s decision to sack him as permanent secretary at the Foreign Office

Mainstream, the Labour group set up last year with support from Andy Burnham, has issued a statement critical of the immigration and asylum bill being debated today. Its interim council said:

The public rightly expects an immigration and asylum system that is fair, controlled and compassionate. We welcome the government’s determination to restore confidence in a system that today works neither for local communities nor for people fleeing war and persecution.

As parliament considers this bill, we want to see reforms that address some of the system’s biggest shortcomings, including faster, higher-quality asylum decisions, an end to the reliance on expensive and unsuitable accommodation (which would be easier if asylum seekers were allowed to take paid work after six months), and more effective and expansive safe and legal routes that help undermine the criminal gangs who profit from human misery.

The prime minister has acknowledged that his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States in December 2024 was a mistake. He should also admit that sacking Olly was a mistake, based on a grievous misunderstanding of how the national security vetting (NSV) system worked and a rash response to a media story.

A point of principle is at stake, which affects all FDA members. It damages the core values of a professional and impartial civil service if its most senior officials can be dismissed on a prime ministerial whim, without even the semblance of a fair process or considered understanding of the core issue.

I bring this action reluctantly. It would have been unnecessary if the prime minister had simply apologised for his mistake and made amends for the distress and cost it has caused me and my family. Instead, I now have to ask the courts to determine that the prime minister’s decisions were unlawful, unreasonable and to quash them.

-The prime minister has asserted publicly that it was his decision to dismiss Olly, however the prime minister has no statutory authority to dismiss the head of the diplomatic service;

-Not only was there no fair procedure involved in his dismissal, there was no process at all; and
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