52 TheEconomistJuly 13th 2019
1“T
he currentsituation is making it
impossible for me to carry out my
role as I would like.” Thus did Sir Kim Dar-
roch resign as Britain’s ambassador to
Washington, the country’s top diplomatic
post, on July 10th. His departure came days
after the Mail on Sundaypublished a selec-
tion of his cables that were highly critical of
President Donald Trump. In the end, Sir
Kim was undone by a one-two from the
West’s leading populist duo, Mr Trump
himself and his apprentice, Boris Johnson,
Britain’s probable next prime minister. The
former froze him out of dealing with the
American government, before the latter re-
fused to back him.
The furore will test the “special rela-
tionship”, on which Western defence is
founded, as it has not been tested for many
years. Few can remember a time when the
ambassador of a close ally was so humiliat-
ed by an American president. It has also
sparked a domestic political storm. Just
when it should be preparing for a post-
Brexit “Global Britain”, the Foreign Officefinds itself fighting fires both at home and
in the countries it most needs to cultivate.
In truth Sir Kim’s cables, covering a per-
iod from 2017 to 2019, revealed little that
had not been said frequently in the press.
Still, they made juicy reading. The ambas-
sador called Mr Trump’s administration
“dysfunctional” and “diplomatically clum-
sy and inept”. Reports of “vicious infight-
ing and chaos” inside the White House
were judged to be “mostly true”. Mr Trump
“radiates insecurity”. And Sir Kim warned
that, although the president was dazzled
on his state visit to Britain in June, America
would continue to follow its own interest
in post-Brexit trade talks: “This is still the
land of America First.”
Unsurprising as these views may be,
their leaking is damaging, and has set off a
hunt for the mole and the motive. In April a
leak from Britain’s National Security Coun-
cil over policy towards Huawei, a Chinese
telecoms giant, led to the firing of the de-
fence secretary, Gavin Williamson. Now
another episode has strengthened the im-pression that something is rotten in the
heart of the government.
That the Darroch files emerged through
a prominent Eurosceptic journalist, Isabel
Oakeshott, has fed theories that this is all
part of the battle over Brexit. Sir Kim was
Britain’s permanent representative to the
European Union and national security ad-
viser before he went to Washington in 2016,
and is seen as a Europhile. Suspicions
range from Russian mischief-making to
the even more unsettling idea that a British
leaker hoped to ensure a more Brexit-
friendly person is appointed ambassador
after Theresa May steps down as prime
minister later this month.
If Mr Trump had his way, Britain would
have long ago appointed Nigel Farage, the
Brexit Party leader, as its man in Washing-
ton. After news of the leak broke on July
7th, the president made his views about Sir
Kim plain. “The ambassador has not served
the ukwell, I can tell you that,” he said. “We
will no longer deal with him,” he later
tweeted. For good measure, the president
rubbished Mrs May’s handling of Brexit
(“What a mess she and her representatives
have created”) and looked forward to her
replacement. He described Sir Kim as
“wacky” and “a pompous fool”. In fact the
ambassador had been seen in Washington
as a capable figure who was well liked by
members of the Trump administration.
Back home, Britain rallied behind its
man, though the government distanced it-Foreign policyA specially strained relationship
LONDON AND WASHINGTON, DC
A leak, a leadership race and a lame-duck prime minister expose the weaknesses
of Britain’s post-Brexit diplomacyBritain
53 Thenewpoliticsofwelfare
54 TaxisandraceAlso in this section— Bagehot is away