London, April 22 -- A former top British bureaucrat said he felt political pressure to clear Peter Mandelson to become ambassador to the US, in dramatic public testimony sure to further imperil the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Olly Robbins - a career civil servant who was the most senior official in the Foreign Office until Starmer fired him last week - told lawmakers on Tuesday that the prime minister's office had a "dismissive approach" to Mandelson's security vetting. No. 10 created an "atmosphere of pressure" to "get it done" by publicly announcing the appointment before vetting was completed, Robbins said in his high-stakes appearance before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Starmer's appointment of the veteran political operative to the US had been meant to ingratiate his government with the incoming administration of President Donald Trump, but has instead created a months-long scandal overshadowing the political agenda. Robbins' account will place Starmer under further scrutiny while the prime minister battles allegations that he misled Parliament....