Sir Simon MacDonald

Within the news cycle, Ollie Robbins had been required to resign.

I mean, this shows to me that the number 10 wanted a scalp and they wanted it quickly.

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.

Security vetting is a key part of the system, a key part of a posting overseas.

It is a confidential process.

So there is a report that

The details of that report are very closely held.

They would never be shared with Number 10 or the Prime Minister.

If there had been a failure, then that fact, that ultimate conclusion, would have to be conveyed to the political level.

But the fact that it was not indicates to me that the picture was more complicated than Number 10 wished to present.