Money

UK envoys ‘cannot do jobs’ as leak inquiry drags on


British diplomats have warned they are being forced to “bite their tongues” as the police continue to investigate the leak of classified diplomatic cables about US president Donald Trump’s White House.

Kim Darroch, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, had to stand down last year following the leak of a cache of confidential diplomatic cables in which he described the Trump administration as “inept” and “uniquely dysfunctional”.

The mass leak of sensitive cables was seen as “unprecedented” by senior diplomats and until the source of leak is exposed ambassadors are said to be fearful of sending their full opinions in dispatches from abroad.

“The police aren’t providing regular updates and it’s taking an awfully long time”, said one diplomat. “There is no question that everyone who is reporting back is thinking twice because we now know it can be career ending.”

Another added: “We haven’t heard a squeak, is there an embarrassing story about Russian hackers, or an employee? We have no idea. Until we know, [us] ambassadors and civil servants cannot do our jobs. People will bite their tongues and not give the honest advice politicians need.”

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman confirmed the investigation remained “ongoing”, no arrests had been made and “inquiries continue”. The Foreign Office added that the investigation was a matter for the police.

Defending the leaked memos last year, a Foreign Office spokesperson said ambassadors were expected to provide “an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country. Their views are not necessarily the views of ministers or indeed the government. But we pay them to be candid.”

Diplomats are also concerned about the time Britain has been without an ambassador since Lord Darroch stood down as the “special relationship” between the US and UK has come under strain. 

On Friday, the Foreign Office announced that Karen Pierce, the UK’s permanent representative to the UN, is to become the first British female ambassador to Washington. “It’s absurd it’s taken so long and just hasn’t been a priory,” raged one diplomatic figure.

The new ambassador will accept the role after the British government raised American hackles with its proposed new digital services tax and approval of the participation of Huawei in its 5G network, despite repeated warnings from US officials.

The two countries have also clashed over Washington’s refusal to extradite the wife a US diplomat who drove on the wrong side of the road and killed a British teenager, and the Iranian nuclear agreement.



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.