Former Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins (Image: Getty)
Brexiteers accused Sir Keir Starmer of plotting to drag Britain back into the EU after appointed a “Europhile” to run the Foreign Office.
Sir Oliver Robbins, who led the botched negotiations while Theresa May was prime minister, will serve as the most senior civil servant in the department.
Conservative MP Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group of backbench Tory Brexiteers, warned the appointment revealed the Prime Minister’s intentions for the UK’s future with Brussels.
He said: “If Labour wanted to rejoin the EU, Olly Robbins, a notable Europhile, is their perfect choice at the FCDO.
“As the official who led the negotiations on Theresa May’s deeply flawed Withdrawal Agreement, he is well connected around the EU.
“I have always argued that Starmer ‘Remains a Remainer’ at heart and this just helps prove it. Labour are going to try and take us back in, one step at a time.”
Don’t miss…
Sir Oliver replaces Sir Philip Barton, who is stepping down after nearly four decades at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Sir Oliver was “exactly the person” to help him “rewire the FCDO to act as the international delivery arm of this Government’s missions”.
Mr Lammy added: “His extensive experience of economic and security issues, gained across a range of Whitehall departments, will stand us in good stead as we reorient the FCDO to focus on growth and migration, while continuing to double down on national security – the foundation of our Plan for Change.
“I would like to thank Sir Philip Barton for his many years of dedicated public service, in particular his leadership as PUS and his support through the recent political transition.”
Sir Oliver said: “It has been my pleasure to work alongside the FCDO’s predecessors for most of my civil service career. I’ve seen our extraordinary diplomatic and development capabilities first hand from Washington DC to Mogadishu, Dublin to Sana’a and Abuja to New Delhi.
“After five years out of the Civil Service I return believing more strongly than ever in the value of those capabilities and the public service principles that underpin them, while convinced that maintaining the UK’s lead depends critically on understanding and co-opting the pace of change evident in the UK and around the world.”
Sir Oliver currently works for global strategic advisory firm Hakluyt and has previously held roles at Goldman Sachs as well as the Cabinet Office, Treasury and in Downing Street.
It comes after he was pipped to the post of Cabinet Secretary – the Civil Service’s top job – by former health chief Sir Chris Wormald.