ENVOY’S PARTING BLAST AT BORIS
Johnson accused of ‘throwing diplomat under bus’ as he quits after storm over Trump emails
BRITAIN’S ambassador to the US fired a parting blast at Boris Johnson last night after quitting his post.
Diplomatic sources said Sir Kim Darroch used a phone call with the Tory leadership favourite to tell him that his refusal to support him in his row with Donald Trump was ‘a factor’ in his shock decision to quit.
And Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan yesterday accused Mr Johnson of throwing the ambassador ‘under the bus’ to further his own political ambitions.
Sir Kim had come under intense pressure this week after President Trump reacted furiously to leaked diplomatic cables in which he described the US President as ‘inept’.
In an astonishing series of tweets, Mr Trump branded Sir Kim a ‘pompous fool’ and effectively severed relations with him.
In a vengeful decision, the President ordered the White House to cut off all contact, leaving the British ambassador barred from official events.
Sir Kim is said to have accepted that the row had dealt a fatal blow to his ability to do his job.
In a personal letter on Tuesday, Theresa May urged him to stay on, saying that it was up to London, not the White House, to decide who represented the UK’s interests in Washington.
Friends said Sir Kim initially accepted the plea but decided he had to go after Mr Johnson refused to back him during a live TV debate with leadership rival Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday night.
Mr Johnson said Mr Trump’s response was ‘not necessarily the right thing to do’, but said he had been ‘dragged into a British political debate’. He refused four times to say whether Sir Kim should keep his job, saying it would be ‘presumptuous’ to give an opinion while the race for Number 10 was still under way.
Mr Johnson telephoned Sir Kim yesterday to ‘express regret’ at the ambassador’s decision. One source close to Mr Johnson said the ambassador reassured him he was not to blame.
But a friend of Sir Kim said: ‘Boris Johnson’s comments were not the only factor that persuaded him to resign, but they were a factor. Kim was clear about that in his conversation with Boris.’
In his resignation letter, Sir Kim said: ‘The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.’
After learning of Sir Kim’s resignation, Mr Johnson expressed his regret, describing him as a ‘superb diplomat’ with whom he had worked with for many years.
But his comments were dismissed as ‘insincere guff’ by Sir Alan – a long-standing critic of the former foreign secretary – who said he had deliberately failed to give Sir Kim his support during Tuesday night’s TV debate.
‘For someone who wants to lead, let alone unite, the country, that was contemptible negligence on his part,’ he said. ‘He has basically thrown this fantastic diplomat under the bus to serve his own personal interests.’
Last night Mr Johnson dismissed Sir Alan’s claims, telling The Sun: ‘I can’t believe they’re trying to blame me for this. It seems bizarre to me. I’m a great supporter of Kim’s. I spoke to him just now to offer my good wishes.’
When asked why he did not support Sir Kim during Tuesday night’s debate, Mr Johnson said he ‘didn’t think it was right to drag public servants’ careers into the [political] arena this way’.
He added: ‘I thought it was most odd that the career of particular servant should suddenly become a test case within a TV debate.’ Last night officials revealed that the police could be called in to find the mole who leaked the diplomatic cables.
Whitehall sources said Mrs May was furious about Sir Kim’s ousting and was considering appointing a successor in her last two weeks in office in order to deny Mr Johnson the chance to pick his own candidate.
But last night, allies of Mr Johnson warned Mrs May that she must not ‘tie the hands’ of her successor. Julian Lewis, the Tory chairman of the defence select committee, told The Daily Telegraph she should resist the ‘temptation for an outgoing prime minister to appoint to a plum job one of her inner circle’. Arch-Brexiteer Steve Baker told The Times: ‘It is absolutely vital that our ambassador is able to make a strong, heartfelt case for our future status as a trading nation and work with Congress.
‘With all that in mind a new ambassador must be appointed by the new prime minister. It would be totally unacceptable in such circumstances to tie the future prime minister’s hands.’
There was also speculation that Sir Kim could be rewarded with a peerage in recognition of his 42year diplomatic career. And Mr Johnson faced the prospect of a civil service revolt over his perceived willingness to sacrifice Sir Kim to appease President Trump.
Dave Penman, head of the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, said: ‘Johnson and his allies have sent the clearest signal possible to Sir Kim, the diplomatic corps, the wider civil service and, unfortunately, to foreign governments: that civil servants’ professional, impartial advice is needed, but they are ultimately expendable if it proves politically expedient.’
Downing Street said yesterday that officials had held ‘initial discussions’ with the police about whether the leak inquiry could become a criminal investigation.
BORIS WON’T BACK TRUMP ROW ENVOY From yesterday’s Mail ‘I can’t believe they’re blaming me’