The UK’s ambassador to the US has resigned after confidential memos he wrote labeling Trump “dysfunctional” and “incompetent” were leaked to the press.
Darroch entered the eye of a diplomatic storm this week after remarks he made disparaging the Trump administration were leaked to the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
In the notes, the UK ambassador to the US said that Trump’s government was “uniquely dysfunctional” and added: “We don’t really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal.
He also described Trump’s presidency as “incompetent,” and “inept.”
Trump on Tuesday responded by tweeting that Darroch was a “very stupid guy” and a “pompous fool” and suggested that the White House would no longer work with him.
He also attacked prime minister Theresa May as “foolish” and accused her of making a “mess” of Brexit.
Following the row Darroch said it was now “impossible” for him to remain in post.
“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,” he said in a statement.
“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.”
He added: “Although my posting is not due to end until the end of this year, I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador.”
- Read more: Boris Johnson accused of throwing ambassador to US ‘under a bus’ after refusing to defend him from Trump
- Read more:The UK is investigating whether Russian spies hacked secret memos branding Trump ‘uniquely dysfunctional’ and ‘incompetent’
- Read more: Police asked to investigate explosive UK diplomatic leak labeling Trump’s White House ‘uniquely dysfunctional’ and ‘incompetent’
May told the House of Commons that it was a “matter of great regret” that Darroch had stepped down.
The opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn agreed, saying that “the comments made about him [by Trump] are beyond unfair and wrong.”
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted that he was “Deeply saddened to hear of the resignation of Sir Kim Darroch.
“Standing up for Britain means standing up for the finest diplomats on the world. It should never have come to this.”
Boris Johnson accused of throwing Darroch ‘under a bus’
The frontrunner to replace Theresa May has been branded “contemptible” by his colleagues after declining to back Darroch.
Darroch’s future was thrown into doubt on Tuesday, after Boris Johnson refused to say he should remain in post.
Johnson also refused to criticise Trump for his comments about the prime minister, saying only that the president had been “dragged into a British political debate.”
A senior ally of Mr Johnson told the Times: “We don’t want to put the whole special relationship on the edge because of a row about one person. We do not have anything to gain from a running spat with the White House.”
Johnson’s refusal to back him, was key to his decision to step down, the BBC reported.
Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan told BBC News that “Boris Johnson has basically thrown our top diplomat under a bus.”
He said that Johnson’s refusal to defend Darroch was “pretty contemptible,” adding that: “There are a lot of people here in the Commons who are very, very angry and feel he has lost so much respect for having done what he’s done.”
Conservative MP Sir Patrick McLoughlin agreed, saying: “It is unedifying to see someone who wants to be Prime Minister failing to stand up for hard working civil servants, who have done nothing wrong, under attack from foreign governments.”
“Leadership involves standing up for your team. If we don’t call out those who want a witch-hunt through the civil service we are complicit in creating divisions that may never heal.”
Hunt for the source of the leak
UK officials are investigating whether the Russian government hacked the secret diplomatic memos which branded Donald Trump ” inept and incompetent,” the UK government confirmed this week.
The foreign secretary said on Monday that the possibility of a Russian cyber-attack to steal a huge tranche of memos written by Sir Kim Darroch, the UK ambassador in Washington, is now an official line of inquiry.
The inquiry into who leaked the tranche of documents initially focused on senior UK politicians and officials, but senior Foreign Office figures believe an enemy government hoping to destabilise relations between Western powers could have been behind it.
Jeremy Hunt told The Sun Newspaper: “Of course it would be massively concerning if it was the act of a foreign, hostile state.
“I’ve seen no evidence that that’s the case, but we’ll look at the leak inquiry very carefully.
“They are going to follow all avenues of inquiry to try to understand how this happened. That’s something that will be considered.”
One senior UK government figure told the paper: “A big question now being asked is who would have the most to gain from the leak?
“Without doubt that the answer is a hostile state who wants to cause division, because they have succeeded.”
