PM to appoint US ambassador in spite of Cameron’s advice

RISHI SUNAK is expected to appoint Sir Tim Barrow, his national security adviser, as Britain’s next ambassador to the United States.

Downing Street is set to announce as soon as today that Sir Tim, the former ambassador to Ukraine, Russia and the EU, will be sent to the British Embassy in Washington at the end of this year.

The position carries even greater weight in advance of the US presidential election, in which Donald Trump could win a second term in the White House.

The appointment has been a matter of debate in Washington and Whitehall for some time, after Dame Karen Pierce, the current ambassador, had her usual term extended because of the pandemic. Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, is understood to have suggested the Government waits until after the UK general election to decide her replacement. His advice was overruled by Mr Sunak, who is said to have wanted to reward Sir Tim, 60, for his work in Downing Street.

As Britain’s man in Europe in 2017, Sir Tim triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union, which formalised Brexit. At the time, friends described him as a “seasoned negotiator”.

Last night Nigel Farage, the former Brexit Party leader, said Sir Tim was “not exactly an imaginative choice from a dying government”.

A Labour official said the party could rethink the appointment if it wins the general election, which is expected to take place later this year.