No-deal Brexit would be “fraught with risk” and a step into the unknown, the former top civil servant overseeing preparations has warned. “Everybody should be worried” about the scenario, said Philip Rycroft, following repeated promises by Boris Johnson that he will wrench Britain out of the EU on 31 October, whether he can secure a new deal or not.
Following an exclusive poll for The Independent that showed voters wanted neither Mr Johnson nor Jeremy Hunt to be PM, a separate survey has revealed Tory members – the electorate the pair is currently courting – found most backed the death penalty and thought Donald Trump would make a good prime minister.
And Mr Trump is also a central figure in Monday’s other political news – the fallout from leaked memos revealing the low esteem in which he is held by the UK’s ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch. Liam ., the international trade secretary, called the leak “malicious” and suggested the person responsible could be prosecuted, after Mr Trump himself reacted with fury.
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Speculation is rife in Westminster as to the possible source of the leaked Sir Kim Darroch emails.
It is highly unusual for a leak to have a civil servant as its target – much more common is civil servants leaking information that is damaging to politicians. This suggests there is a clear political motive at play – most likely that someone wants Sir Kim’s job.
Some are pointing the finger at senior Tory ministers who might be eyeing up one of the top ambassador jobs in the new government, while others have suggested that Boris Johnson and/or Nigel Farage might somehow be involved. There have been some reports that Mr Johnson could make Mr Farage the UK’s US ambassador, if he becomes prime minister. There would be a clear political incentive to do so, as it would take him away from his role as leader of the Brexit Party, which of course poses a major electoral threat to the Tories.
However, Mr Johnson’s team has strongly denied that Mr Farage would be given a job, saying such claims are “for the birds”….
A no-deal Brexit is ‘fraught with risk’ and ‘everyone should be worried’, the former top civil servant at the Brexit department has said
Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, has distanced himself from comments made by Sir Kim Darroch, the UK ambassador to the US, in leaked messages.
Speaking at a press conference at the Foreign Office, Mr Hunt said:
“It’s a personal view and there will be many people in this building who don’t agree with that view and indeed I don’t agree with some of the views that we saw in those letters.
“I think the US administration is highly effective and we have the warmest of relationships and a partnership based on standing up for shared values.
“So I think it’s very important that our ambassadors and high commissioners around the world continue to feel that they are able to express those frank views because we have one of the best diplomatic networks in the world and the foundation of that is the free exchange of information and opinions and the understanding that we’re not always going to agree with each other but we want to know what people around the world are thinking.”
Business in the Commons doesn’t get underway until 2.30pm today (it’s the same every Monday) – here’s the order paper for later in the day.
MPs have launched a new bid to stop the next prime minister forcing through a no-deal Brexit without parliament’s consent
“If anything, Kim Darroch’s assessment that Trump is ‘inept’ and ‘dysfunctional’ is testament to his fine judgment,” David Lammy has said.
The Labour MP added: “We need honest ambassadors that speak candidly. This leak is simply an attempt to ensure the next US ambassador is Trump’s lapdog.”
Jeremy Hunt has warned there will be “very serious consequences” for whoever leaked Sir Kim Darroch’s memos about the Trump administration, if they are unmasked.
Asked if he would use a meeting with Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump to apologise for the leak of Sir Kim Darruch’s remarks, Liam . has said: “I will be apologising for the fact that either our civil service, or elements of our political class, have not lived up to the expectations that, either, we have or the United States, has about their behaviour, which in this particular case has lapsed in a most extraordinary and unacceptable way.”
Here’s our current lead story.
Everyone should be worried about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, the former leading Brexit civil servant said, writes Alessio Perrone.
Former permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) Philip Rycroft said a no-deal Brexit was “fraught with risk” and a “step into the unknown”.
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