Botched treaty that allowed the Americans to exploit a loophole
AN EXCHANGE of diplomatic pleasantries spanning 11 months and sent 26 years ago set in motion one of the most significant rifts between the US and Britain in modern times.
The three short notes between the then US ambassador to the UK, William J. Crowe Jr, and British Minister Sir Nicholas Cosmo Bonsor also offer an insight into how the so-called Special Relationship really works. Aristocratic Old Etonian barrister Bonsor had a short-lived career as a Foreign Office Minister in the dying years of John Major’s government and had been tasked with dealing with the Americans.
Washington wanted 200 of its agents and officials to be granted diplomatic immunity while they were posted to US listening station RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, and Britain was writing to acquiesce.
Only one caveat was inserted into the deal – the diplomats would not be beyond British criminal liability for anything outside their official duties at the base. In a one paragraph reply in August 1995, the US Government conceded the point that immunity was ‘waived’ for ‘employees’ of the base.
Bonsor stands accused of botching the treaty as there is absolutely no mention of the spouses and families of these diplomats. And in 2001, when the US asked to deploy more staff at Croughton, the late Labour Foreign Secretary Robin Cook failed to close the loophole. What Dominic Raab now calls an ‘anomaly’ in the original treaty allowed Anne Sacoolas to flee the scene of the tragic death of Harry Dunn, claiming she is above the law.