British ambassador to Washington quits after spat over leaked memos

[snoop1130]

British ambassador to Washington quits after spat over leaked memos

by Michael Holden, Kylie MacLellan

 

FILE PHOTO - Britain's ambassador to the United States Kim Darroch (R) arrives as then White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon greets guests prior to a joint news conference between U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s ambassador to Washington quit on Wednesday after days of stinging criticism from Donald Trump, leading to accusations that Boris Johnson, the favorite to be the next British prime minister, had “thrown him under the bus”.

 

Memos from Kim Darroch in which he described the Trump administration as inept were leaked to a British Sunday newspaper, infuriating the U.S. president, who launched a Twitter attack on both the envoy and outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, who had given Darroch her full support.

 

As the spat between the two close allies intensified, Trump said he would no longer deal with the “very stupid” Darroch and called May “foolish”.

 

Darroch said his position had become untenable, but supporters blamed Johnson, the former London mayor who could take over from May later this month, for refusing to back him.

 

“Since the leak of official documents from this Embassy there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding my position and the duration of my remaining term as ambassador,” said Darroch, who was due to step down at the end of the year.

 

“I want to put an end to that speculation. The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.”

 

In his confidential memos dating from 2017 to the present, Darroch, 65, had said reports of in-fighting in the White House were “mostly true”, and last month described confusion within the administration over Trump’s decision to call off a military strike on Iran.

 

“CLUMSY AND INEPT”

 

“We don’t really believe this Administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction-riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept,” Darroch wrote in one cable.

 

It led to a scathing tirade from the U.S. president.

 

“The wacky Ambassador that the UK foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy,” he tweeted, describing Darroch as a “pompous fool”.

 

Britain prides itself on its “special relationship” with its closest ally and Trump himself described it as “the greatest alliance the world has ever known” during a lavish state visit last month.

 

That relationship is of particular importance to London now, as it hopes to strike a major trade deal with Washington as one of the upsides of leaving the European Union, a departure currently scheduled for Oct. 31.

 

Darroch, a career diplomat who previously served as Britain’s envoy to the EU, had been accused by some Brexit supporters of being biased towards the bloc.

 

Trump himself had previously suggested that Nigel Farage, now leader of Britain’s Brexit Party, would be a good choice as ambassador, irritating British officials.

 

While May said the government did not share Darroch’s views of the Trump administration, she said British ambassadors should have the freedom to give frank assessments.

 

“I have told him it is a matter of great regret that he has felt it necessary to leave his position as ambassador to Washington,” she told parliament. “The whole cabinet rightly gave its full support to Sir Kim on Tuesday.”

 

“CONTEMPTIBLE DISREGARD”

 

Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, the other contender for May’s job, had said in a televised debate on Tuesday evening that Darroch should keep his job. But frontrunner Johnson, who has promised Britain will leave the EU with or without a deal by Halloween, pointedly declined to do so.

 

During a campaign visit on Wednesday, Johnson, who was himself foreign minister until a year ago, called Darroch “a superb diplomat”, adding that whoever leaked the documents had “done a grave disservice to our civil servants”.

 

But there was anger among many British politicians that Darroch had been forced out, said junior foreign minister Alan Duncan, who blamed Johnson.

 

“He has basically thrown this fantastic diplomat under the bus to serve his own personal interests,” he told BBC TV.

 

“His sort of disregard for Sir Kim Darroch and his refusal to back him was, in my view, pretty contemptible, but also not in the interests of the country he is trying to lead.”

 

An inquiry is under way into who leaked the memos. The head of Britain’s diplomatic service, Simon McDonald, said it was the worst breach of trust he had seen in his career.

 

He said it was unprecedented for a head of state, friendly or hostile, to refuse to work with British ambassadors, and the last time there had been a problem with an envoy to the United States was in 1856.

 

“It appears that the British envoy to the United States has been removed according to the wishes of a foreign potentate,” Tom Tugendhat, chairman of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told Sky TV.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-10

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[sanemax]

And the new guy that takes over his job, can only say nice and agreeable things about Trump , in both public and private and he will have to give false info to the UK Government and not to do his job properly .

   Quite funny that he stated that Trump was insecure and then Trump acted insecure and got him fired 

[NCC1701A]

don't let the barn door hit you on the way out.

[Small Joke]

6 minutes ago, sanemax said:

And the new guy that takes over his job, can only say nice and agreeable things about Trump , in both public and private and he will have to give false info to the UK Government and not to do his job properly .

   Quite funny that he stated that Trump was insecure and then Trump acted insecure and got him fired 

No, it has to be business as usual.

 

The diplomatic bag is inviolable, they at least can all agree on that.

 

It's just the usual political fellatio after the fact, to soothe ruffled egos.

 

Darroch did nothing but his job. He's there, like all ambassadors, to engage and report, no sugarcoating expected or required.

 

Whoever leaked should be charged under the official secrets act.

 

What else might they have disclosed, and to whom? 

[sanemax]

2 minutes ago, Small Joke said:

No, it has to be business as usual.

 

The diplomatic bag is inviolable, they at least can all agree on that.

 

It's just the usual political fellatio after the fact, to soothe ruffled egos.

 

Darroch did nothing but his job. He's there, like all ambassadors, to engage and report, no sugarcoating expected or required.

 

Whoever leaked should be charged under the official secrets act.

 

What else might they have disclosed, and to whom? 

I was watching Russian TV today and they wondered out loud who could have leaked those e-mails 

[Justgrazing]

The Ambassadors position was probably made impossible after the Orange one threw his toys out of the pram over the emails .. It wasnt helped by Johnson refusing to say if he would keep Darroch in Washington as and when he was made leader in the recent debate with opponent Jeremy Hunt .. who said he would keep Sir Kim in the U S if he were made leader .. 

Trump himself has responded utterly predictably with the usual infantile tweets and the withdrawal of the invitation to a banquet the other night .. Most unbecoming and fully underlining what the Ambassador hinted at in the Emails .. Trump is a tool .. 

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

.. Trump is a tool .. 

How dare you say that about Trump .

Go on, go back home to the UK immediately ???? 

[Justgrazing]

Utterly predictable sad emoji off Just Weird to post 6 .. You're stock in trade is it not , rarely to offer an opinion to the subject itself .. only flimsy and banal replies to other posts or to leave the sad emoji .. Maybe you need to change you're user name to Just Sad .. 

[Basil B]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

But there was anger among many British politicians that Darroch had been forced out, said junior foreign minister Alan Duncan, who blamed Johnson.

 

“He has basically thrown this fantastic diplomat under the bus to serve his own personal interests,” he told BBC TV.

[Puchaiyank]

Leaking classified and private information has become the new weapon of choice in a world where electronic surveillance and tracking peoples movements are out of control...

[GinBoy2]

Diplomats need to be able to express their assessments in total confidence to their respective Governments. Thats their job.

 

What action their Government takes is up to them, but thats not an Ambassadors job.

 

We all saw the effect of the Wikileaks disclosure of the US Ambassadors cables back to Washington regarding that Oh So Sensitive Thai issue!

 

In the Wikileaks case, that leaker case had the correct resolution.

 

I hope the UK Government treats it seriously too.

 

Anyone who decides it's their 'job' to compromise a diplomat deserves to the punished

[Bluespunk]

7 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, the other contender for May’s job, had said in a televised debate on Tuesday evening that Darroch should keep his job. But frontrunner Johnson, who has promised Britain will leave the EU with or without a deal by Halloween, pointedly declined to do so.

Yeah, johnson’s going to fight for and protect britain’s Interests...

 

brexitocracy, rule 2: always ensure the worst possible choice of candidate is given the most responsibility. 

[expatfromwyoming]

Johnson, a political ally of Trump, failed to throw his weight behind Darroch. Shows the same lack of loyalty that Trump does.

[Boon Mee]

 BoJo will run this rat ???? right out of the Diplomatic Service. 

[phantomfiddler]

Darroch blew it. The whole purpose of a diplomat is to try and achieve your agenda without offending ANYONE !

[sammieuk1]

Must be the new zero to the NHS bus the old 350m one lost its wheels????

[Dumbastheycome]

8 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Darroch blew it. The whole purpose of a diplomat is to try and achieve your agenda without offending ANYONE !

So Diplomacy must be in the art of the lies?

[scorecard]

10 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Darroch blew it. The whole purpose of a diplomat is to try and achieve your agenda without offending ANYONE !

Don't agree totally, IMHO:

 

- The diplomat should be reporting home confidentially with factual no sweetener analysis and comment, giving warnings etc., where appropriate.

 

- The diplomat should outwardly be polite.  

[Greenside]

22 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Darroch blew it. The whole purpose of a diplomat is to try and achieve your agenda without offending ANYONE !

Communications from an Ambassador to his or her government have to considered privileged or much of the point of the post is rendered redundant.  His assessment of Trump's White House could have been delivered to Whitehall in many ways, almost all of which could have been compromised and the only possible way in which Darroch could be accused of "blowing it" is if weak security on his part exposed his views to someone outside government.  I don't see any reports that hint of that, do you?

 

He was simply doing his job.

[allane]

When Trump used the words "Wacky" and "pompous fool" I presumed he was talking about himself.

[ballpoint]

Hopefully he'll resign totally from the Foreign Office and write a book on what he saw and learned that led him to draw his totally believable conclusions about Trump and his administration.

[law ling]

Free speech is something to be valued, save for generally accepted exceptions like defamation, blasphemy, vilification, treason, etc.

It's Britan's (serious) problem if they can't maintain confidentiality within their own systems.

As for the American president, I tire of unsubstantiated criticsms. If the observation is that he is "inept" (and "inept" is a pretty strong word) then let's have:

1. A concise statement of a current issue,
2. What responses to that issue would objectively be said to be ept,
3. What the President did in response,
4. Why the President's response is objectively inept.

Without that objective framework, these anti-President rants are otherwise just silly, unsubstantiated, subjective name-calling, which is of no interest to a serious observer seeking to be informed, and wanting to make their own judgment.

[Nigel Garvie]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

 BoJo will run this rat ???? right out of the Diplomatic Service. 

1) He has already resigned, and he was due to retire anyway.

2) Bojo helped by proving himself to be without any loyalty to an honest diplomat working for the government, that is he has proved himself to be a complete arselicker.

3) The quasi religious fervor of the hard Brexiteers has turned us into sitting ducks for any powerful country leader in the world. They are now lining up to shaft us as soon as we leave the protective umbrella of the EU.

4) If you are going to lick someones jackboots, as Bojo is so ready to do, why not start with the most vile sub human scumbag that the evil empire has ever elected - he the orange turd.

[Benmart]

13 hours ago, sanemax said:

And the new guy that takes over his job, can only say nice and agreeable things about Trump , in both public and private and he will have to give false info to the UK Government and not to do his job properly .

   Quite funny that he stated that Trump was insecure and then Trump acted insecure and got him fired 

I don't profess to know what anyone's job is, except my own. If a person has no experience as an Ambassador or senior leader, I prefer to ignore his musings on TVF.

[Basil B]

Any other POTUS would have laughed it off as a difference of opinion, Trump is just highlighting his own insecurity.

 

(was not insecure on of the glowing terms that Sir Kim used???)

[sanemax]

8 minutes ago, Benmart said:

I don't profess to know what anyone's job is, except my own. If a person has no experience as an Ambassador or senior leader, I prefer to ignore his musings on TVF.

Well, let me explain : Part of an Ambassadors job  is to report back to the home country Government about the current situation in the Country that they are in .

They need to give a honest genuine account , absolutely no point in sending a holiday postcard stating that everythings nice fine and lovely and everyones so nice and friendly 

[Basil B]

20 minutes ago, Nigel Garvie said:

4) If you are going to lick someones jackboots, as Bojo is so ready to do, why not start with the most vile sub human scumbag that the evil empire has ever elected - he the orange turd.

I do not see BoJo going that low, It is likely to be another "Special Relationship" just like Blair and Bush's, BoJo will just be Trump's poodle with a brown nose...

[zydeco]

21 minutes ago, Basil B said:

I do not see BoJo going that low, It is likely to be another "Special Relationship" just like Blair and Bush's, BoJo will just be Trump's poodle with a brown nose...

Trump seems to think you English like him. I tend to think you actually hate him and he just can't tell the difference. Big crowds either way. And he loves big crowds.

[Basil B]

8 minutes ago, zydeco said:

Trump seems to think you English like him. I tend to think you actually hate him and he just can't tell the difference. Big crowds either way. And he loves big crowds.

Trump gets his kicks out of annoying people, so that's why he was so keen to come to the UK, he is just the worlds biggest Troll...  

[Jonnapat]

Trump has recently tweeted this about the British ambassador....

'' wacky ambassador, stupid guy'' amongst other equally diabolical quotes.

And has said that Nigel Farage would be a very fine ambassador to the US.

Apparently Mrs May, as a last act of her premiership is considering appointing a  replacement this week. Let's hope she has the guts to do the right thing and not leave it to Johnson to put some Trump puppet in his place.

Is there no end to this continued lunacy?