This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/03/uk-ambassador-to-eu-quits-amid-brexit-row

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
UK ambassador's exit is 'wilful destruction of EU expertise' UK ambassador's exit is 'wilful destruction of EU expertise'
(about 2 hours later)
Sir Ivan Rogers’ shock resignation as ambassador to the European Union is a “wilful and total destruction of EU expertise”, according to the former top civil servant at the Treasury. The sudden resignation yesterday of Britain’s ambassador to the European Union has prompted angry accusations from remain supporters that officials who express cautions over the Brexit process risk being pressured out of their jobs
In an unusually candid intervention, the former permanent secretary Sir Nicholas MacPherson said Rogers’ departure was a huge loss and the latest in a string of EU experts to be frozen out of the higher echelons of government, including Rogers’ predecessor, Jon Cunliffe, and Tom Scholar, previously the prime minister’s adviser on European issues who is now permanent secretary at the Treasury. Sir Ivan Rogers’ resignation, so close to the start of Brexit negotiations at the end of March, amounted to a “wilful and total destruction of EU expertise”, according to the former top civil servant at the Treasury.
In an unusually candid intervention Lord MacPherson, who was permanent secretary from 2005 until last year, said Rogers’ decision was a huge loss and that he was the latest in a string of EU experts to be frozen out, describing the decision as “amateurish”.
MacPherson also cited Rogers’ predecessor, Jon Cunliffe, and Tom Scholar, previously the prime minister’s adviser on European issues who is now permanent secretary at the Treasury. His warning appears to reflect a Treasury concern that Theresa May is under pressure by sceptics to abandon hopes of trying to negotiate access to the profitable EU single market, even on a temporary basis.
The foreign office played down the implications of the resignation, saying Sir Ivan had been due to leave in November adding he was merely “resigned a few months early”.
“Sir Ivan has taken this decision now to enable a successor to be appointed before the UK invokes rticle 50 by the end of March,” a spokeswoman said. But Sir Ivan has known since October that he was due to leave his Brussels post before the talks are due to end in 2019, raising questions as to why he was given a vital role in preparing for the negotiations in the first place. The foreign office said he is due to leave his post within weeks, but may not leave the civil service.
Ivan Rogers huge loss. Can't understand wilful&total destruction of EU expertise, with Cunliffe,Ellam&Scholar also out of loop.#amateurismIvan Rogers huge loss. Can't understand wilful&total destruction of EU expertise, with Cunliffe,Ellam&Scholar also out of loop.#amateurism
MacPherson’s comments on his personal Twitter account signal wider Whitehall discontent with how the process of leaving the EU is being handled by ministers. Rogers angered Eurosceptics in December when it emerged he had told ministers it could take 10 years to negotiate a free-trade deal with the EU. Downing Street insisted at the time that the ambassador had been communicating the views of some European leaders, rather than giving his own assessment.
The Foreign Office confirmed that Rogers, one of the UK’s most experienced EU diplomats, told staff on Tuesday he was stepping down early from his role, just a few months before Britain begins its formal exit negotiations with the EU. A Whitehall source said the early departure had been discussed before Rogers told his staff on Tuesday. However, Nick Clegg, who worked with Rogers in Brussels, said it appeared to be the latest in a series of attacks against public officials who had expressed caution about Brexit.
His resignation, first reported by the Financial Times, came almost a year before his scheduled departure in November. “First it was the judges, condemned as enemies of the people for just doing their jobs,” the former deputy prime minister told the Guardian.
“Sir Ivan Rogers has resigned a few months early as UK permanent representative to the European Union,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said. “Sir Ivan has taken this decision now to enable a successor to be appointed before the UK invokes article 50 by the end of March. We are grateful for his work and commitment over the last three years.” “It’s been the CBI and any business that didn’t sign up to the Brexit zeal, and now it’s senior officials being kneecapped in the Brexit press, after Sir Ivan Rogers just gave candid advice about the length of time negotiations might take.
Rogers, who conducted David Cameron’s renegotiation with the EU before the referendum, angered Eurosceptics in December when it emerged he had told ministers it could take 10 years to negotiate a free-trade deal with the EU. Downing Street insisted at the time that the ambassador had been communicating the views of some European leaders, rather than giving his own assessment. “They are in the firing line if they do not endorse a zealous world view. This is a very worrying trend, and very new in British politics.” Insisting civil service neutrality is a precious British asset, Clegg said the government should value candid advice:. “It will come back to haunt the Brexit headbangers, because you can insist as much and hysterically as you like that the world is flat, but there are only so many people you can condemn for just pointing out the truth, that the world is round and that Brexit is complicated, might take time and might not be fully to Britain’s advantage.”
The former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who worked with Rogers in Brussels, said his resignation appeared to be the latest in a series of attacks against public officials who had expressed caution about Brexit. The former chancellor George Osborne tweeted to praise Rogers for his work with him during meetings of EU finance ministers. He added: “He is a perceptive, pragmatic & patriotic public servant”.
“First it was the judges, condemned as enemies of the people for just doing their jobs. It’s been the CBI and any business that didn’t sign up to the Brexit zeal, and now it’s senior officials being kneecapped in the Brexit press, after Sir Ivan Rogers just gave candid advice about the length of time negotiations might take,” he told the Guardian. With the choice of Sir Ivan’s successor bound to be seen as a signal of the direction of UK Brexit policy, Euro-sceptics demanded an enthusiastic Brexiteer replace Sir Ivan and called for an ideological purge of officials in the foreign office.
“They are in the firing line if they do not endorse a zealous world view. This is a very worrying trend, and very new in British politics.” Clegg said the government should value candid advice, rather than ideology. “It will come back to haunt the Brexit headbangers, because you can insist as much and hysterically as you like that the world is flat, but there are only so many people you can condemn for just pointing out the truth, that the world is round and that Brexit is complicated, might take time and might not be fully to Britain’s advantage,” he said. “Fearless advice to the powerful is incredibly important in a mature democracy. They are not there to provide an ideological echo chamber.” Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, said “No organisation has done more to give away our democratic rights than the Foreign Office. They’ve been doing it for decades and I very much hope that Sir Ivan is the first of many to go.
The former chancellor George Osborne tweeted to praise Rogers for his work with him during meetings of EU finance ministers. He added: “He is a perceptive, pragmatic & patriotic public servant. Thank you.” John Redwood the Euro-sceptic MP said ” Sir Ivan’s heart was not in the negotiations. The talks do not need to be that complicated. If you leave, you leave. You take control of your borders, your laws, and your money and that is not something that needs to be negotiated with Mrs Merkel”.
A Whitehall source said ministers were not surprised by Rogers’ departure, given he had been due to leave later in the year. It is understood discussions had already begun at a civil service level about finding a replacement before November. “It won’t affect any of the article 50 timetable at all,” the source said. Sir Ivan, appointed by Cameron to represent the UK in Brussels, had endured a difficult relationship with Downing Street special advisers during the negotiations ahead of the referendum.
The Daily Mail claimed the knives had been out for Rogers, saying: “There were even demands for Sir Ivan to be replaced with a diplomat who is more energetically pro-Brexit, amid speculation that his comments were deliberately leaked to undermine his position.” Some Conservatives blamed Sir Ivan for under-pitching what could be achieved and advising against taking a harder line. One adviser said “It was not about him being a Europhile, but about being difficult. He not only said the UK did not understand the EU, but the EU did not understand the UK. He was just the most out front of the civil servants, but many others thought like him”.
The Conservative MP Dominic Raab, a member of the exiting the European Union select committee, said it would have been more disruptive if Rogers had left in November. Sources said the main two points of tension were over whether it was feasible for the UK to threaten to drop out of the EU without a deal, falling back on WTO terms and how to persuade the EU to negotiate simultaneously on the UK’s divorce terms and a future UK-EU relationship. Theresa May has to set out her negotiation strategy to MPs in March, but has so far given next to nothing away.
The Conservative MP Dominic Raab, a member of the exiting the European Unionselect committee, said it would have been more disruptive if Rogers had left in November.
“Sir Ivan is a distinguished diplomat with a long record of public service,” Raab said. “He didn’t exactly hide the fact that his heart wasn’t in Brexit, and he was due to step down in the autumn anyway. It makes sense all round to give the ambassador who will see the negotiations through some lead time.”“Sir Ivan is a distinguished diplomat with a long record of public service,” Raab said. “He didn’t exactly hide the fact that his heart wasn’t in Brexit, and he was due to step down in the autumn anyway. It makes sense all round to give the ambassador who will see the negotiations through some lead time.”
Labour’s Hilary Benn, who chairs the EEU committee, told the BBC the resignation was “not a good thing” and the government would be under pressure to get a replacement up to speed to meet Theresa May’s timetable of triggering article 50 before the end of March. However, Labour’s Hilary Benn, who chairs the EEU committee, told the BBC the resignation was “not a good thing” and the government would be under pressure to get a replacement up to speed to meet Theresa May’s timetable for triggering article 50.
“I think that it means that the government will have to get its skates on to make sure there is a replacement in place so he or she can work with Sir Ivan in the transition, the handover,” said the former shadow foreign secretary.“I think that it means that the government will have to get its skates on to make sure there is a replacement in place so he or she can work with Sir Ivan in the transition, the handover,” said the former shadow foreign secretary.
“But the hard work is going to start very soon, because if article 50 is triggered, as the government says it wishes to, by the end of March, then negotiations will probably begin shortly thereafter. And having a handover in the middle of that, depending on when exactly he goes, is not ideal.” Peter Mandelson, the former Labour cabinet minister and EU commissioner, said Rogers’ experience was “second to none in Whitehall” and a serious loss for the UK negotiating team.
Peter Mandelson, the Labour former cabinet minister, said Rogers’ experience was “second to none in Whitehall” and a serious loss for the UK negotiating team.
“I would not expect him to comment further but everyone knows that civil servants are being increasingly inhibited in offering objective opinion and advice to ministers,” Lord Mandelson said, speaking on behalf of the Open Britain campaign.
“Our negotiation as a whole will go nowhere if ministers are going to delude themselves about the immense difficulty and challenges Britain faces in implementing the referendum decision.”
Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, said the UK had lost one of its most experienced EU negotiators at a crucial juncture.
Ivan Rogers' resignation makes a good deal on Brexit less likely. One of the v few people at top of Brit govt who understand EU. @CER_London
Rogers was appointed by Cameron, having previously worked as private secretary to Kenneth Clarke when he was chancellor.
His advice to No 10 about the length of time a trade deal could take to negotiate also reportedly carried the warning that such a deal could be rejected by any of the 27 national parliaments during the ratification process.
Rogers’ departure was widely welcomed by campaigners who are pushing for a harder Brexit deal. The Ukip donor and Leave.EU founder, Arron Banks, said Rogers had been “far too much of a pessimist” about Brexit. “It’s time now for someone who is optimistic about the future that lies ahead for Brexit Britain,” he said. “Enough talk, we need to get on with getting out.”
Jonathan Isaby, the editor of the BrexitCentral website, said Rogers’ departure would have been more disruptive if it had happened later in the year, despite concerns expressed by remain supporters. “Or are they simply upset at the prospect of a UK ambassador in Brussels who accepts the referendum result and can be relied on to support the prime minister in delivering a successful Brexit?” he said.