Top UK diplomat quits with attack on government 'peddling half-truths’ on Brexit

A top UK diplomat has quit after delivering a damning attack on the Government for “peddling half-truths” on Brexit.



Alexandra Hall Hall has reportedly stepped down from her role in America saying accusing political leaders' of a “reluctance to address honestly, even with our own citizens, the challenges and trade-offs” of leaving the EU, according to CNN.

She was serving as the lead envoy for Brexit at the British Embassy in Washington, but sent a letter earlier this week saying she could no longer reconcile her commitment to the job with the demands made of her.

Ms Hall Hall, who has had a three-decade-long career as a diplomat and is a and a former ambassador, wrote: “I am also at a stage in life where I would prefer to do something more rewarding with my time, than peddle half-truths on behalf of a government I do not trust.”

She does not mention Boris Johnson by name, but her missive will make uncomfortable reading for the Prime Minister less than a week from an election in which his central message has been that a vote for him is a vote to “get Brexit done”.

And it comes after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn produced leaked internal documents which he said show there will be customs checks on the Irish border post-Brexit, despite Mr Johnson’s public pledges there would not be.

Ms Hall Hall’s letter said: "I have been increasingly dismayed by the way in which our political leaders have tried to deliver Brexit, with reluctance to address honestly, even with our own citizens, the challenges and trade-offs which Brexit involves.

“The use of misleading or disingenuous arguments about the implications of the various options before us; and some behaviour towards our institutions, which, were it happening in another country, we would almost certainly as diplomats have received instructions to register our concern.

"It makes our job to promote democracy and the rule of law that much harder, if we are not seen to be upholding these core values at home."

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office confirmed she was standing down, said CNN, but added: “We won’t comment on the detail of an individual’s resignation.”