Civil Disservice

The poisoned chalice of Epstein disciple Peter Mandelson claimed another victim this week, Olly Robbins - the highest ranking civil servant in the foreign office. The permanent undersecretary purportedly failed to inform any democratically elected and arbitrarily appointed minister in Keir Starmer's government that Lord Mandelson failed his security screening required in order to take post as our ambassador to the United States. Who'd have thought that the Epstein affair had penetrated the British political machine so deep that our civil servants now serve to protect members of the murky international elite over our own native rulers in Downing Street?

Indeed the betrayal of trust is shocking. Most civil servants oppose political appointments to premium ambassadorial positions like that of Mandelson's. And yet Robbins, swayed by the charm and influence of the lord, was willing not only to not inform the prime minister of the failed screening but also to create a cover up: back in February Keir announced to the public that Mandelson had indeed undergone rigorous security screening. How can we expect our prime minister to succeed while this kind of misconduct is happening at the top of our policy machine?

We all know and trust that Keir is a man of detail, a technocratic minded lawyer who, when in possession of the facts, makes good decisions. But so many times he has fallen victim to malignance of those closest to him. Both his chief of staff and communications mislead him about Mandelson's dubious ties with Epstein and so too had to fall to the side. It seems that all around him, people are drinking from the goblet that has already ended many careers of the political class of our suzerain.

But at least Keir remains clear minded and dutiful. His response to the news was to tenaciously (three times) assert that he indeed was unaware of the security mishap. And three times now he's had to clean up the civil disservice of those too embroiled in the world of Epstein and Mandelson. Those doubtful of Keir's conviction should consider words of wisdom from Winston Churchill:

Great leaders and just men do things thrice