May bows to civil service pressure and appoints diplomat to EU post

 

Tim Barrow to replace Ivan Rogers

Theresa May has moved swiftly to end an escalating row with top civil servants by appointing career diplomat Sir Tim Barrow to replace Sir Ivan Rogers as Britain’s ambassador to the EU.

Sir Ivan quit this week amid claims that Mrs May’s aides did not like the advice he was giving on Brexit. Leading Tory Eurosceptics said he should be replaced by someone more enthusiastic about the UK’s departure from the EU.

But after Britain’s mandarin class rose up to defend Sir Ivan, Mrs May tried to draw a line under the dispute by appointing Sir Tim, ambassador to Moscow from 2011-15, to the highly sensitive role. Sir Tim, political director at the Foreign Office, is a safe option for Mrs May and will allay concerns among officials about the risk of politicisation of the civil service.

The shock resignation of Sir Ivan, an EU expert, prompted alarm among civil servants, who believe he was pushed out because Number 10 had withdrawn its backing for him. But as Tory MPs pressed Mrs May to appoint an EU ambassador with a more pro-Brexit outlook, top civil servant Sir Jeremy Heywood insisted the post should be filled by an experienced diplomat. Sir Tim has previously served in an ambassadorial role in Brussels, responsible for EU security and foreign policy issues.

The choice of an official with EU experience marks a vote of confidence by Mrs May in the civil service.

Welcoming Sir Tim’s appointment, David Davis, secretary of state for exiting the EU, said: “UKRep will have a crucial role to play in the negotiation over the UK’s exit from the EU, and Sir Tim Barrow will add to the already extensive experience it brings.”

Sir Ivan came under attack in the media last year after a memo was leaked in which he said a Brexit trade deal with the EU could take until the mid-2020s to complete. Downing Street failed to back him and officials said he was too “pessimistic”.

Serving officials cannot speak publicly but Sir Peter Ricketts, former head of the Foreign Office and former ambassador to Paris, said there was concern about Sir Ivan’s treatment: “If Ivan feels he didn’t have back-up from ministers – and he didn’t – that’s a bad sign.”

Iain Duncan Smith, the Eurosceptic former Tory leader, said Sir Ivan’s leaked resignation letter was “pompous”, suggesting he might himself have been responsible for last year’s leak.

Sir Peter said the claim was “a smear” and some would see it as part of a campaign “to intimidate the civil service to shut up”.

Sir Ivan’s resignation letter bemoaned “muddled thinking” over Brexit and urged colleagues in Brussels to continue delivering warnings about the complexity of Britain leaving the EU.

There was sympathy for Sir Ivan from the European Commission, which said it regretted the loss of a “knowledgeable – while not always easy – interlocutor”.