In a debate last night, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt vowed to keep the envoy in Washington while his rival and favourite Boris Johnson failed to make a similar undertaking.

ends intro

Tweet-happy US President Donald Trump keeps the row blazing calling British ambassador Sir Kim Darrock  a pompous fool for characterizing him as clumsy, incompetent and insecure.

Sir Kim’s remarks were sent confidentially and Prime Minister Theresa May has defended the need for him to be frank.

Censoring ambassadors’ remarks would undermine the whole purpose of having diplomats, say former envoys.

But journalists recalling the leaking of 250 000 State Department cables by Wikileaks nine years ago say diplomats should know the internet cannot be confidential.

The post Diplomats should know the internet cannot be confidential appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Britain’s Foreign Office has begun an inquiry into how this confidential correspondence from the envoy to Whitehall was leaked.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunts says his Ambassador to Washington Sir Kim Darrock is doing his job giving his frank personal opinions to his principals about the country he’s  serving in.

“It is just that, his personal opinion. It is not the opinion of the British Government,” he says

The notorious thin-skinned President Donald Trump reacted predictably.

“We are not friends with that man. He has not served his government well. I can say things about him, but I won’t bother you that that,” he says.

Downing Street, which has been at pains to preserve Britain’s special relationship with Washington, which in the Trump era has not always been that special, is braced for the diplomatic fallout.

The post UK ambassador to Washington gives a withering assessment of Donald Trump’s administration appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.