Top UK lawmaker urges police to open probe into leak of ambassador's cables on Trump

  09 July 2019    Read: 1312
Top UK lawmaker urges police to open probe into leak of ambassador

UK House of Commons foreign affairs committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said on Monday that he had written to the Metropolitan Police Service and asked for a criminal probe to be opened into the leak of the diplomatic cables from UK ambassador to the United States Kim Darroch about US President Donald Trump, Sputnik reported. 

Both UK and US media are boiling since Sunday after confidential messages sent by Darroch back to London emerged in the Daily Mail newspaper. The cables describe Trump as "inept," "insecure" and "incompetent." The messages, sent in the period from 2017 to the present, cover several issues, including Trump's foreign policy in the Middle East and his 2020 reelection bid plans.

"I fear that we are developing a culture of leaks and that would be extremely detrimental to the United Kingdom. They damage our reputation, impact our ability to function effectively and undermine our relations with our allies. I understand that the Foreign Office has opened an inquiry into this leak. I have today written to the commission of the Metropolitan Police to ask that a criminal investigation also be opened into the leak," he said during a House of Commons meeting.

Scotland Yard has not yet commented on Tugendhat's statement yet.

In the meantime, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Monday that the United Kingdom would not allow "any interruption" to mar its "superb relationship" with the United States.

However, the leaked e-mails drew ire from Trump who lashed out at the ambassador, saying that the diplomat had not served his country well and adding that Washington was not a "big fan" of his.


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