맨델슨 신원조회 스캔들의 핵심 인물이 의원들 앞에서 증거를 제시하지 않을 것
Key figure in Mandelson vetting scandal will not give evidence before MPs
에밀리 손베리는 이안 콜라드가 화요일에 외교위원회(FAC)에 출석할 것을 요청했지만, 토요일에 그가 대신 서면 답변을 제출할 것임을 확인했다.
위원회는 이미 올리 로빈스(지난주 맨델슨의 보안 신원조회 실패 결정이 자신의 부서에 의해 뒤집힌 후 자신의 직위에서 제거된 외교부의 최고 공무원) 및 내각실 상임비서 캣 리틀로부터 증거를 들었다. 키르 스타머의 전 최고 보좌관 모건 맥스위니는 화요일에 출석할 예정이다.
이전에 선별 위원회에 증거를 제공한 적이 있는 콜라드는 레바논과 파나마의 전 대사이며 2023년 3월 외교부의 부동산 및 보안 담당 최고 책임자로 임명되었다.
로빈스는 콜라드가 그에게 신원조회 결과에 대해 보고했다고 말했으며, 그 결과는 동료를 경계 사안으로 간주했고 신원조회 거부를 권고하는 쪽으로 기울어져 있었다.
손베리는 콜라드에게 이 회의에 대한 그의 기억과 로빈스의 증거와 일치하는지 여부를 외교부에 보낸 편지에서 자세히 설명하도록 월요일 오후 5시까지 답변할 질문들을 요청했다.
그녀는 또한 다음을 설정하도록 요청했다:
로빈스가 "압력의 분위기"와 다우닝 스트리트의 "지속적인 추진"이 있었다고 말한 후 맨델슨의 신원조회 승인을 제공하기 위해 압력을 느꼈는지 여부.
민감한 직책 후보자에 대한 신원조회를 담당하는 기관인 영국 보안 신원조회(UKSV)의 맨델슨 신원조회에 대한 보고서를 보았는지 여부. 두 개의 빨간 상자가 표시되었습니다 - "높은 우려"를 의미하며 "신원조회 거부 또는 철회" 권고.
맨델슨이 귀족원 의원이라는 점을 감안할 때 외교부, 다우닝 스트리트 또는 내각실의 누군가가 맨델슨이 이 직책에 대한 신원조회가 필요한지에 대한 조언을 요청했는지 여부.
그가 임명이 공표된 시점과 신원조회가 승인되는 사이의 기간 동안 맨델슨이 어떻게 취급되어야 하는지에 대해 조언했는지 여부.
손베리는 토요일에 X에 다음과 같이 썼다: "명확히 하자면, 이안 콜라드가 현재 FAC 앞에서 구두 증거를 제시하지 않기로 한 이유에 대해 만족합니다. 따라서 우리는 그의 증거를 서면으로 요청했습니다."
그녀는 덧붙였다: "추가 질문이 있으면, 우리는 그 시점에서 그가 구두로 증거를 제시하도록 요청할 필요가 있는지, 아니면 추가 서면 진술로 충분한지 여부를 고려할 것입니다."
로빈스는 2025년 1월 외교부를 인수했을 때 맨델슨이 이미 신원조회 확인 없이 사안별로 "극비 브리핑"에 접근하도록 허가되었다고 말했다.
그는 맨델슨의 신원조회 결정을 내릴 때 UKSV 양식을 본 적이 없지만 신원조회에 대해 보고 받았다고 말했다.
리틀은 위원회에 맨델슨이 귀족원 의원이라는 점 때문에 신원조회가 필요한지 여부에 대한 초기 논의가 있었다고 말했다.
스타머는 로빈스가 이른바 개발된 신원조회 절차의 결과를 자신에게 알리지 않은 것이 잘못되었다고 주장했으며, 이를 알았다면 그 동료를 워싱턴의 최고 외교관으로 삼지 않았을 것이라고 주장했다.
총리는 전 외교부 장관을 해임하기로 한 결정을 지지했으며, 그가 2024년 주미국 대사로서의 동료의 임명을 승인하기 위해 "정부의 일상적 압력"만 받았다고 말했다.
그는 일요일 타임스와 대화하면서 "다양한 유형의 압력" 간의 구별을 했다고 말했다.
그는 다음과 같이 말했다: "압력 - '빨리 끝낼 수 있을까?' - 는 비정상적인 압력이 아닙니다. 이것이 정부의 일상적 압력입니다."
스타머는 "본질적으로 보안 신원조회 요소를 무시하고 신원조회를 승인하라"는 압력은 다른 것이 될 것이라고 말했으며, 로빈스는 "그 압력이 자신에게 가해졌다는 것이 정말 명확했다"고 말했다.
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Chief property and security officer Ian Collard set to submit written answers to foreign affairs committee questionsA key figure in the row over Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to Washington will not appear before a parliamentary committee of MPs to give evidence.Dame Emily Thornberry had requested that Ian Collard speak to the foreign affairs committee (FAC) on Tuesday, but confirmed on Saturday that he would submit written answers instead.Whether he felt under pressure to deliver Lord Mandelson’s clearance, after Sir Olly said there was an “atmosphere of pressure” and “constant chasing” from Downing Street.Whether he had seen the cover form for Lord Mandelson’s vetting by UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the agency responsible for checks on candidates for sensitive posts, in which it had ticked two red boxes – meaning they had “high concern” and recommended “clearance denied or withdrawn”.If he was asked by anyone in the Foreign Office, Downing Street or the Cabinet Office for advice about whether Lord Mandelson required vetting for the post given he was a member of the House of Lords.If he advised on how Lord Mandelson should be treated during the period between his appointment being announced and his clearance coming through.
A key figure in the row over Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to Washington will not appear before a parliamentary committee of MPs to give evidence.Emily Thornberry had requested that Ian Collard speak to the foreign affairs committee (FAC) on Tuesday, but confirmed on Saturday that he would submit written answers instead.
The committee has already heard from Olly Robbins, the Foreign Office’s top civil servant who was forced out of his post last week after the decision to fail Mandelson during his security vetting was overruled by his department, and the Cabinet Office permanent secretary, Cat Little. Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, is due to appear on Tuesday.
Collard, who has given evidence to the select committee previously, is a former ambassador to Lebanon and Panama and was appointed the Foreign Office’s chief property and security officer in March 2023.
Robbins said Collard briefed him on the vetting findings that deemed the peer a borderline case and leaned towards recommending that clearance be denied.
Thornberry has asked Collard to detail his recollection of this meeting and whether it lines up with Robbins’s evidence in a letter to the Foreign Office with questions to be answered by 5pm on Monday.
She also asked him to set out the following:
Whether he felt under pressure to deliver Mandelson’s clearance, after Robbins said there was an “atmosphere of pressure” and “constant chasing” from Downing Street.
Whether he had seen the cover form for Mandelson’s vetting by UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the agency responsible for checks on candidates for sensitive posts, in which it had ticked two red boxes – meaning they had “high concern” and recommended “clearance denied or withdrawn”.
If he was asked by anyone in the Foreign Office, Downing Street or the Cabinet Office for advice about whether Mandelson required vetting for the post given that he was a member of the House of Lords.
If he advised on how Mandelson should be treated during the period between his appointment being announced and his clearance coming through.
Thornberry wrote on X on Saturday: “To be clear, I am satisfied by the reasons behind Ian Collard not giving oral evidence before the FAC at the moment. We have therefore asked for his evidence in writing.”
She added: “If we have further questions, we will consider at that point whether we need to ask him to give evidence orally, or whether a further written statement is sufficient.”
Robbins said when he took over in the Foreign Office in January 2025, Mandelson was already being granted access to “highly classified briefings” on a case-by-case basis – without his security clearance being confirmed.
He said he had never seen the UKSV form when making the decision on Mandelson’s clearance but was briefed on the vetting.
Little told the committee there had been an initial discussion over whether the Labour grandee needed security vetting at all because he was a member of the House of Lords.
Starmer has maintained that Robbins was wrong not to have told him the outcome of the so-called developed vetting process and insisted he would not have had the peer as his top diplomat to Washington had he known.
The prime minister has stood by his decision to sack the former Foreign Office chief and said he faced only the “everyday pressure of government” to clear the peer’s appointment as ambassador to Washington in 2024.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, he said he made a distinction between “different types of pressure”.
He said: “There’s pressure – ‘Can we get this done quickly?’ – which is not an unusual pressure. That is the everyday pressure of government.”
Starmer said a pressure “essentially, to disregard the security vetting element and give clearance” would be something different, and that Robbins “was really clear in his mind that wasn’t pressure that was put on him”.