Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Sir Kim Darroch resigns as British Ambassador after leak

In the past few minutes, Sir Kim Darroch has resigned as UK Ambassador to Washington. The Foreign Office has just released a letter in which Sir Kim says says the leak of diplomatic cables in which he described President Trump as ‘insecure’ has made it ‘impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like’.

He may well be right that it is now impossible for him to continue working with the Trump administration. It might also have been impossible for him to continue in the role for much longer, given Boris Johnson is set to become Prime Minister, and pointedly refused to back him last night.

But this will have long-lasting implications for the way the UK conducts its diplomatic work. Sir Kim was merely doing what he was supposed to in his job, passing back his private assessment of how the Trump operation was working. If diplomats now feel they are unable to send frank advice in a confidential fashion, then the government will have far less intelligence upon which to base its decisions and the way it talks to other governments.

It will also suggest to Donald Trump that he is able to get what he demands from the UK, even though it is supposed to be down to the Prime Minister, not other leaders, who serves as Ambassador.

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