Fired civil servant accuses PM of 'dangerous misunderstanding' over Mandelson affair

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Sir Olly Robbins tells MPs that Lord Mandelson never failed his vetting, because it was a borderline case that could be managed with mitigation. The Whitehall mandarin described the pressure the Foreign Office was under to approve Mandelson's appointment, with the process in train well before vetting took place. And he described the Prime Minister as having a "dangerous misunderstanding" of the process. We have full analysis and reaction, with a former national security adviser and friend of Sir Olly, Emily Thornberry MP who chairs the foreign affairs committee, and the BBC's political editor Chris Mason.