Kim Darroch
 Sir Kim Darroch      ( diplomat, propagandist) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Craig Murray: "The idea that the FCO encourages honest and candid reporting is still more of the hypocritical nonsense being talked around Darroch’s resignation"[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Nigel Kim Darroch 30 April 1954 County Durham, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | • Abingdon School • Durham University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | • Vanessa • Lady Darroch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of | Centre for European Reform | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"A startling example of the politicisation of the civil service"
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Sir Kim Darroch is a UK diplomat who was made UK Ambassador to the US in January 2016.[2] Craig Murray termed his "rise to the top of the FCO ... in fact a startling example of the politicisation of the civil service."[3] After a number of emails were - strategically - leaked, he resigned as ambassador in July 2019.
Contents
Ambassadorial leaks
2016
In November 2016, following the 2016 United States presidential election, a memo by Sir Kim Darroch to Prime Minister Theresa May was leaked in which he said the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, could be influenced by the British government. The following week, Trump tweeted that Nigel Farage should serve as British Ambassador to the United States, which was rejected by Downing Street, which said that there is no vacancy and that the UK has "an excellent ambassador to the US".[4][5] Sir Kim Darroch was in London the next day for consultations with Theresa May that were said to have been long planned.[6]
2019
On 7 July 2019, secret diplomatic cables from Darroch to various members and officials of the UK government, dating from 2017 to 2019, were leaked to the Mail on Sunday,[7] including statements such as the Trump administration was 'inept and insecure'.[8]
On June 20, 2019, Iran’s Air Defense Forces shot down a US Global Hawk surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Immediately a pressure campaign was mounted on Trump to launch a retaliatory strike, but at that time, Trump declined to act. The side that was frustrated the most about his reluctance to go to war were the British. Ambassador Darroch sent a series of memos to the Foreign Office berating Trump and calling him "incoherent and chaotic."
Darroch also included this revealing note:
We have spent years building the relationships [with certain individuals]; they are the gatekeepers... the individuals we rely upon to ensure the U.K. voice is heard in the West Wing."[9]
Some of these voices included Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton who was a frequent visitor to the British embassy along with the former Chief of Staff John Kelly. On 8 July, the Washington Post described Darroch’s "coterie- including Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, Mick Mulvaney, Sarah Sanders and Trump ally Chris Ruddy"who have met at the embassy and "share about the President and his decision-making." The leaked memos showed that Darroch called for "flooding the zone" around the President with people who could influence and nudge him toward opening hostilities against Iran. Darroch believed that Trump could still be influenced to launch the war against Iran if he could be, "surrounded by a more hawkish group of advisers... Just one more Iranian attack somewhere in the region could trigger yet another Trump U-turn."[10]
After the leaks, on 8 July, Donald Trump tweeted that Darroch was "not liked or well thought of within the US" and that "we will no longer deal with him".[11] On 9 July 2019, Boris Johnson refused to answer whether he would keep Kim Darroch as Britain’s ambassador to the US following the heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations, as Conservative Party leadership rival Jeremy Hunt told Donald Trump to treat the UK with "respect".[12]
Darroch resigned on 9 July, 2019. In September 2021, the he became the new chairman of Best for Britain.[13]
Diplomatic career
Name: Nigel Kim Darroch KCMG
Married to: Vanessa Claire
Children: one son 1983, one daughter 1986
Darroch is a former head of the Foreign Office News Department. In 2003-4 he was a member of the Departmental Board of the Foreign Office.
In December 2006 Darroch was moved to Brussels:
- Mr Kim Darroch CMG has been appointed as the United Kingdom Permanent Representative to the European Union at Brussels in succession to Sir John Grant KCMG, who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Mr Darroch will hold the personal rank of Ambassador and will take up his new appointment in autumn 2007.
Observers, such as Martin Bright of the New Statesman saw this as part of the process of transition to a Brown administration:
- Last month's reshuffle at the highest levels of the Civil Service gave an indication of the shape of a Brownite diplomatic corps. Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Tony Blair's key foreign policy adviser, will move to Washington in the autumn, where Brown prides himself on personal relationships with individuals such as Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. At the same time, Kim Darroch, the PM's adviser on Europe, will move to Brussels. Both men will be consulted, but they will consider their wings seriously clipped.
- Already, Jon Cunliffe, Brown's second permanent secretary at the Treasury, is being tipped to replace Sheinwald, with Ivan Rogers, a former director of European policy at the Treasury now working for Citigroup, lined up to replace Darroch. The appointment of economists rather than career diplomats to these key advisory posts would mark a sea change in the diplomatic culture of Downing Street.
- 2004-06 EU Adviser to the Prime Minister and Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat
- 2003-04 FCO, Director-General for European Union Affairs
- 2000-03 FCO, Director for European Union Affairs
- 1998-00 FCO, Head of News Department
- 1997-98 Counsellor (External Relations), UK Permanent Representation to the EU, Brussels
- 1995-97 FCO, Head of Eastern Adriatic Department
- 1993-95 FCO, Assistant then Deputy Head of European Union Department
- 1989-92 First Secretary, Rome
- 1987-89 FCO, Private Secretary to Minister of State dealing with Middle East
- 1985-86 FCO, Maritime, Aviation and Environment Department
- 1980-84 Third later Second later First Secretary, Tokyo (External Affairs and Defence)
- 1976-79 FCO
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels Forum/2015 | 20 March 2015 | 22 March 2015 | Cleve North Rhine-Westphalia Germany | Yearly discreet get-together of just over 500 of transatlantic people of interest to German Marshall Fund. The 2015 main theme was (R)evolution. Slightly over 1/3 have pages. |
References
- ^ Written Answers July 2006, in response to a question from Kevin McNamara, cited in Craig Murray, A class war? August 1, 2006.
- ^ Senior Diplomatic Service Appointments Monday 11 December 2006 09:40 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (National) News
- ^ Martin Bright If Gordon Brown has a world view, it's high time he shared it The Observer, Sunday January 7, 2007
- ↑ "The Darroch Affair"
- ↑ "Darroch, Sir (Nigel) Kim, (born 30 April 1954), HM Diplomatic Service"
- ↑ https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/07/the-darroch-affair/
- ↑ "Donald Trump recommends Nigel Farage for British ambassador to the United States – but No10 tells him 'there's no vacancy'"
- ↑ "Ministers rejects Donald Trump's call to appoint Nigel Farage ambassador"
- ↑ "Theresa May meets with British ambassador to the US following Donald Trump remarks"
- ↑ "Britain's man in the US says Trump is 'inept': Leaked secret cables from ambassador say the President is 'uniquely dysfunctional and his career could end in disgrace'"
- ↑ "Trump administration is 'inept and insecure', says UK ambassador"
- ↑ quoted in https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/whos-in-charge-of-the-iran-war-at
- ↑ https://archive.ph/o/f6FWS/https:/www.washingtonpost.com/world/britain-to-apologize-for-leaked-cables-calling-trump-inept-amid-hunt-for-leaker/2019/07/08/ed62d946-a162-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html
- ↑ "Trump sharpens attack on UK ambassador Kim Darroch over emails"
- ↑ "Boris Johnson evades answer on keeping Kim Darroch as US ambassador"
- ↑ https://www.bestforbritain.org/lord_kim_darroch_delighted_to_be_taking_over_as_best_for_britain_s_chairperson
