Kim Darroch, UK ambassador to US, resigns after Trump cables leak

Kim Darroch has quit as UK ambassador to the United States,
saying his job had become “impossible” after his savaging by Donald
Trump.

The top diplomat announced his resignation, hours after Boris
Johnson refused to say he would stand by him if he wins the race
for No 10.

“Since the leak of official documents from this embassy, there
has been a great deal of speculation surrounding my position and
the duration of my remaining term as ambassador,” Sir Kim
wrote.

“I want to put an end to that speculation. The current situation
is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would
like.

“Although my posting is not due to end until the end of this
year, I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course
is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador.”

The resignation comes amid a major diplomatic crisis yesterday,
prompted by the US president attacking Sir Kim as “a pompous fool”
and after his commerce secretary scrapped planned trade talks with
Liam Fox, the UK trade secretary.

Mr Trump had already vowed he would not deal with the
ambassador, following the leak of UK diplomatic memos calling him
“incompetent”, “inept” and “insecure”.

He used Twitter to attack the envoy, whom he also described as
“wacky” and “very stupid”, while branding Theresa May
“foolish”.

The controversy escalated when Jeremy Hunt, the foreign
secretary and Tory leadership candidate, responded by calling the
president’s language “disrespectful and wrong”.

Sir Kim had to withdrew from a White House meeting he was due to
attend in Washington with Dr Fox and the president’s daughter and
adviser, Ivanka.

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