Lucy Hoff

The Guardian exclusively reveals that Peter Mandelson's ties with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel were among the concerns raised by the UK's vetting agency when it concluded he'd be denied security clearance as US ambassador.

From The Guardian's Today In Focus, this is The Latest with me, Lucy Hall.

Paul Lewis, the Guardian's Head of Investigations, is here.

You have a follow-up to the major exclusive with your colleagues Pippa Crear and Henry Dyer last month that the UK's vetting agency, the UK government's vetting agency, recommended that Peter Mandelson be denied security clearance, advice that was overruled by the Foreign Office, as per your statement.

Revelation last month, you've since learnt more information about why the vetting agency recommended that security clearance be denied.

What were some of the concerns raised?

And so Paul, how much was known about those four associations and why they might be considered a risk to national security?

Yes, and it raises serious questions for a man, Ollie Robbins, who is at the centre of all of this in many ways.

He was the then permanent secretary to the Foreign Office.

He was the person that overruled the advice of the vetting agency to not give Peter Mandelson security clearance.

As a result of The Guardian's exclusive reporting last month, he was sacked from his position.

He was hauled before MPs at the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

And he described this case as a borderline case, which seems extraordinary given what you've just told me and what The Guardian has been able to uncover about what those concerns were.

What do we know about why he considered this to be a borderline case?

Because it's highly confidential.

Is that standard practice?

Yes.

Another curious aspect of this is that the case was considered borderline, but also that it could be handled with mitigations, which is what Ollie Robbins told the Foreign Affairs Select Committee last month.

I mean, given what you've told me about the potential risks to national security in regards to links with Russia and China, but also potential conflicts of interest in terms of his business links, what were those mitigations?

Have we learned any more information about what they were?