The leaker of secret cables from Britain’s ambassador to the US was “unprofessional, unethical and unpatriotic” and could face prosecution, trade secretary Liam Fox said on Monday.
Kim Darroch’s dispatches from Washington, including a description of Donald Trump’s administration as “inept”, were leaked at the weekend, prompting the US president to say that “the ambassador has not served the UK well, I can tell you that”.
But Mr Fox said there was no reason for Sir Kim, who is due to step down in January 2020, to be recalled early. “It’s not a problem for the ambassador. It’s about the ethics of the person responsible for the leak,” he said.
He told the BBC’s Today programme that the leaker should face “the full force of internal discipline or even the law”, suggesting there could have been a breach of the official secrets act.
British diplomats said the leaks to the Mail on Sunday were “unprecedented” and represented a serious threat to the ability of Britain’s ambassadors to do their jobs.
Jeremy Hunt, foreign secretary, is expected to face an urgent question in the House of Commons into the leak, which is now being investigated by his department.
There has been speculation about the likely motive of the leaker, with some suggesting the release of documents were intended to discredit a pro-EU elite in Whitehall.
Allies of Boris Johnson, the frontrunner in the Conservative leadership contest, have indicated that Sir Kim might be replaced by Mark Sedwill, cabinet secretary, some time in 2020.
The leak seemed intended to damage both the current UK ambassador and Sir Mark, who is viewed by Tory Eurosceptics as an obstacle to Brexit.
Mr Johnson’s team has denied outright suggestions that Mr Johnson might instead appoint Nigel Farage to the post, as previously proposed by Mr Trump, to champion a post-Brexit Britain.
The leaks were reported by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who has close links to Mr Farage and his associates, and the Brexit party leader has been quick to exploit the embarrassment of the Foreign Office. He told the BBC that Sir Kim’s comments about the Trump administration had “no basis in truth” and that there should be a change in the way ambassadors were appointed.
However Mr Farage, recently elected as a Brexit party MEP, said he was not the right person for the job.
Anthony Scaramucci, former spokesman for the Trump administration, said it was “ridiculous” to suggest that Sir Kim should be recalled from Washington ahead of schedule. He said Mr Trump was a “big boy who can handle someone who is critical of him”, adding that Sir Kim had a “bipartisan wealth of support” in Washington.
