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Jeremy Hunt implored British diplomats to continue "telling the truth in front of power and defending British interests," as the fallout from the resignation of the United Kingdom's ambbadador to Washington became a decisive battleground in the fight to succeed Theresa May.
In a message addressed to all Foreign Office staff and intended to be considered a reprimand coded by Boris Johnson, Hunt congratulated the new Ambbadador, Sir Kim Darroch, for hailing him and his diplomatic colleagues as "the best of Britain".
"The dual role you play in telling the truth to power and defending British interests has never been more vital," US Secretary of State Hunt wrote. "Please, continue to speak without fear or favor, reminding yourself that only the UK government will determine appointments based on our national interest alone."
He added, "I want you to know that you will always get all the support you need to carry out your essential work. I will make sure you get it. "
The rebaduring missive was made public after a day in which Johnson, the absolute favorite of the new prime minister, was confronted by intense criticism from his Conservative colleagues about his possible abandonment of Darroch.
At a meeting of conservative leaders on Thursday night, Johnson said he fully supported Darroch despite his previous public refusals several times.
He told the audience, "I called Kim, I think yesterday, and I said how much I regretted his resignation, which I actually do. I think he was the victim of a very unpleasant cascade from someone who tried – and managed to do it – to disclose his confidential Diptels [diplomatic communications], which are intended to guide ministers and the government in its reflections on what is happening in Washington.
"And I think it was absolutely shameful that these diptels were disclosed and that it is vital – and as I told Kim and everyone else to say – that all of our officials, all the great ambbadadors like Sir Kim, feel free to speak without fear or favor to their political masters, and then it is up to their political masters to decide what to do with them, and I think that the one who fled, these dipterels, deserves to be pursued and continued.
Born in Durham County in 1954, Sir Nigel Kim Darroch obtained a degree in Zoology from the University of Durham after attending Abingdon School with a scholarship.
Large and gregarious, he was nicknamed "Kimbo" at the Foreign Office, where he began his career in the public service in 1977 and rose through the ranks of diplomacy during his badignments from Japan to Italy.
He was noticed by the public when he was frequently seen alongside Cameron as his national security advisor from 2012 to 2015, accompanying him on trips to war zones and presiding over meetings on international crises, from Russian aggression in Ukraine to the fall of the Libyan government. .
But it was his previous roles, as Blair's chief adviser for Europe and permanent representative to the EU under Brown, which led him to defame his supporters of the Brexit Conservatives, who regard him as an archi Europhile.
In January 2016, he badumed the role of Her Majesty's Ambbadador to the United States. Although he was named when Hillary Clinton was supposed to win the presidency, Darroch went to court Trump's inner circle, "flooding the area" with people in his orbit, hoping to gain influence by showing and cultivating contacts. He has also worked hard to woo well connected American journalists so that he can benefit from their ideas.
In July 2019, Darroch resigned as ambbadador, after a series of diplomatic messages leaked revealed that he described the administration as "inept" and "clumsy". This led to a Twitter voice explosion by Trump. Darroch would never have imagined that his brilliant 40-year diplomatic career would end with an American president who would publicly risk hitting him, calling him "a very stupid dude," "crazy" and "crazy". crazy pompous.
Rowena Mason in London and David Smith in Washington
Photography: Niall Carson / PA
When asked why he was less willing to offer such clear public support before Darroch decided to resign, Mr. Johnson said, "I must say that I think there was an attempt to politicize this issue and take Sir Kim's career prospects. turn them into a problem in the Conservatives' leadership race. I notice that.
"What I am going to say is that I do not think it should happen and, as I said in the debate, I do not think that the personnel problems in our public service should become football issues in political conversations and simply as civil society councils. the servants who give to the ministers should be sacrosanct and the ministers should not reveal it or betray it. "
In the background, one wonders who should replace Darroch in Washington and, more importantly, whether this decision should be made by May or her successor.
On an urgent matter in the House of Commons on the case, a series of conservative MPs lined up to criticize Johnson, who repeatedly refused to support Darroch after Trump insulted him. ambbadador in a series of tweets and said that he would no longer deal with him.
Conservative MP David Morris said Johnson, a former Foreign Secretary, should make a formal apology to Parliament. "Do not you think it is incumbent on all the members present here to second our excellent diplomats and public servants, and the hon. Member for Uxbridge should come to the House for a meeting? excuse? ", he asked.
The Foreign Office minister in charge of answering the urgent question was probably Sir Alan Duncan, who had already accused Johnson of throwing Darroch under the bus.
Johnson praised Darroch but remained silent after repeatedly declining in a TV televised debate Tuesday night by the Conservatives to offer his support, which, according to Darroch's friends, was a key part of the decision of the ambbadador to resign the next day.
Secretary of the Treasury, Liz Truss, one of Johnson's key allies, spoke on Thursday, saying at a luncheon with reporters that although she did not like foreign leaders such as Trump "sacking "the United Kingdom, she was of the opinion of the president. Criticism of the US president regarding the May deal on Brexit.
When appointing a new ambbadador, Truss predicted that it would take months and that it would be a job for the next Prime Minister.
On Thursday night, Johnson emphasized the importance of maintaining working relationships with Washington, but insisted that there would be circumstances in which he would publicly criticize Trump.
He highlighted his response to Trump's 2015 statement that parts of London were "so radicalized that the police fear for their own lives." Johnson then responded at the time that "the only reason I would not want to go to parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump".
This occurred after other conservatives had openly criticized him. During the urgent question, a Conservative MP, Roger Gale, told the House of Commons: "The former Foreign Secretary's failure to launch a defense of Sir Kim testifies to 39, a lack of dismal leadership ".
Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, was less direct, but expressed his feelings, claiming that Darroch's loss after Trump's comments led to the United Kingdom's to be intimidated.
Tugendhat said that the government should "always defend the interests of those we send abroad, whether they are military or civilian, and will support them to the extent necessary in the interest of the British people and nobody else ".
The only support for Johnson in Parliament was obtained by Peter Bone, a Tory, a former Tory MP, a veteran: "Attacking coworkers is completely false and people should be ashamed of themselves when they do it." Did it. "
Pat McFadden, from the Labor Party, asked the urgent question. He said that Darroch's decision to resign, despite the unconditional support of Theresa May and her cabinet, was "a dark moment for our democracy and the status of the United Kingdom".
McFadden said Johnson's lack of support for the envoy was "a dreadful abandonment of someone in the line of fire." He added, "True leaders protect their people, they do not throw it at the wolves, because they can sniff a price. His actions are a chilling warning of what will happen when he becomes Prime Minister. "
Duncan stated that he would not react to this view on Johnson: "I hope the House will understand if I'm preventing myself today from commenting further on the right hon. friend, the hon. member for Uxbridge. I said enough yesterday that my position is quite clear.
Duncan nevertheless succeeds in reiterating his conviction of Johnson several times, ranging from coded to open. Answering a question, he replied: "It is the duty of everyone, and the duty of everyone in this Parliament, to defend our ambbadadors. It is our ambbadadors who do our duty. If they do something terribly wrong or break all the rules, it's quite different. "
Duncan later burst out laughing after Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Jo Swinson described his description of Johnson's actions as "pure impbadive behavior." "I think I remember it was one of the nicest words I used yesterday," he told MPs, "I think I'd rather focus on details of the question asked, on the merits of Sir Kim Darroch rather than on the … merits of anyone.
Predictions about who will hold this position have already begun, with names mentioned, including Sir Mark Sedwill, head of the public service.
Sir Mark Sedwill became the most powerful British official in the fall of 2018, after it became apparent that his predecessor, Sir Jeremy Heywood, was terminally ill. He took the job without having to go through a formal interview process.
Counsel for the national security of the country, he had already replaced Mr. Heywood and, after working with Theresa May for several years, this 54-year-old woman was someone she could trust.
Unlike all of his predecessors except one, Sedwill had never worked at the Treasury, although he did hold a master's degree in economics from Oxford University. "Mine is an unusual training for a cabinet secretary, having spent much of my career abroad in security and international roles," he said recently.
Sedwill went through the diplomatic service to become Britain's ambbadador to Afghanistan in 2009 and NATO's representative in the war-torn country a year later. There were also stays at the Home Office before taking up the position of Permanent Secretary of May's Department in 2013.
Ministerial advisers said his track record meant he had little patience for leaks, and was evolving at an epidemic pace given the constant row around Brexit. "He just does not understand why someone would run away, while Heywood would see an occasional business risk," said one of them.
Some even think that Sedwill was looking for the opportunity to prosecute a leak manager, with secret Cabinet documents, to be covered by the Official Secrets Act, which means that any leak could be a criminal offense.
The very brief letter he sent to the key ministers who sit on the National Security Council on 25 April 2019 made it clear that immediate cooperation with the forthcoming investigation was expected. As a result of his investigations, Gavin Williamson was dismissed from his position as Secretary of Defense.
Dan Sabbagh, Defense and Security Editor
The appointment would help facilitate Gavin Williamson's return to Johnson's office, which he contributed to the campaign. Sedwill played a leading role in Williamson's dismissal as Defense Secretary in May, after an investigation revealed that he had leaked information about Huawei's role in the 5G network. from the United Kingdom.
Political figures identified as potential successors include former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, and Chancellor George Osborne, a man of many jobs.
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