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Britain’s US ambassador resigns after Trump spat
LONDON, July 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Britain’s ambassador to Washington
resigned Wednesday after being targeted by US President Donald Trump
following the leak of highly critical diplomatic cables.
Outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May had offered her full support to Kim
Darroch after he was revealed to have described the Trump administration as
“inept”.
But the man tipped to replace her in Downing Street in the coming weeks,
former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, declined to explicitly back the
diplomat, emphasising instead the need to maintain strong ties with the US.
In a series of confidential cables revealed by a British newspaper at the
weekend, Darroch described the Trump administration as “uniquely
dysfunctional”.
Trump hit back with a torrent of angry tweets, saying he would not deal
with Darroch again, and describing him as a “very stupid guy” and a “pompous
fool”.
He also criticised May’s “foolish” policies and said it was a good thing
she would soon be replaced.
Darroch has been in Washington since January 2016 and was due to stay on
until the end of the year.
But in a statement he said: “The current situation is making it impossible
for me to carry out my role as I would like.”
– Doing his job –
Darroch has received support from across the political spectrum in Britain
and after he resigned, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “It should never
have come to this.”
Hunt, who is vying with Johnson to replace May as leader of the ruling
Conservative party and thus prime minister, on Tuesday condemned Trump’s
outbursts as “disrespectful and wrong”.
But Johnson declined several opportunities in a TV debate on Tuesday night
to back Britain’s ambassador.
Of Trump’s tweets, he said: “I don’t think it was necessarily the right
thing for him to do… but our relationship with the US is of fantastic
importance.”
Reports suggest that it was at that point that Darroch decided that he
must resign.
Yet Johnson himself has a history with the man who is US president, saying
while he was still mayor of London in 2015 that Trump was “out of his mind”
for suggesting parts of the UK capital were “so radicalised” that even the
police stayed away.
“I think he is betraying a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him
frankly unfit to hold the office of president of the United States,” Johnson
said of Trump the time.
May expressed “great regret” that Darroch was leaving, saying: “Good
government depends on public servants being able to give full and frank
advice.”
She emphasised “the importance of defending our values and principles
particularly when they are under pressure”.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the separatist
Scottish National Party, said Darroch had been “forced out” for doing his
job.
“Boris Johnson’s failure last night to stand up for him — and stand up to
the behaviour of Donald Trump — spoke volumes,” she said.
Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs
committee, warned the incident could have far-reaching implications.
“If the UK can’t protect diplomatic communications and that costs people
their careers, when all they’ve done is to execute the wishes of the
government, we will degrade the quality of our envoys, diminish our influence
and weaken our country,” he said.
– Enter Farage? –
The Foreign Office has launched an investigation into the leak of
Darroch’s cables, which comes at a hugely sensitive time in US-UK relations.
Trump was given the red-carpet treatment during a state visit to Britain
last month, but there are tensions over his policies towards Iran and China.
As Brexit looms, Britain is also hoping for a free trade deal with the US
to mitigate the impact of leaving the European Union.
There has been speculation that the leak was aimed at forcing out Darroch
and replacing him with a more Brexit-friendly candidate.
Trump has previously suggested the job go to Nigel Farage, a British
eurosceptic politician who now leads the Brexit Party and who, like Johnson,
was a prominent voice in the 2016 referendum campaign for Brexit.
On Twitter, Farage said Darroch had made “the right decision”, adding:
“Time to put in a non-Remainer who wants a trade deal with America.”
Johnson has previously said he would not work with Farage.
BSS/AFP/BZC/192045HRS