Boris Johnson asks International Workplace chief to face down

The chief civil servant on the International and Commonwealth Workplace is to step down from his position “on the request” of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Sir Simon McDonald – who has been everlasting secretary for 5 years – will depart in September.

The PM is known to need somebody new in cost after the FCO and the Division for Worldwide Improvement merge later this 12 months.

Sir Simon mentioned he “absolutely” revered the choice.

In a message to workers, he mentioned combining the FCO with the Division for Worldwide Improvement (DfID) was “the precise transfer for our future abroad effort” and “the end result of my time right here”.

“However a brand new effort wants new management,” Sir Simon added. “Whoever [that is] will tackle a merely great job.”

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Mr Johnson thanked the everlasting secretary for his “sturdy management” and the “incredible assist” he had given him whereas he was international secretary between 2016 and 2018.

International Secretary Dominic Raab additionally paid tribute to Sir Simon, calling him “one of many most interesting diplomats of his era”.

Requested whether or not Mr Johnson needed somebody new to guide the merged departments, a spokesman for the PM mentioned Sir Simon’s five-year time period was “the usual size of tour” for a civil service position on the FCO.

He added: “Simon has reached the tip of his time period and we wish to ensure we now have a brand new everlasting secretary for the brand new International, Commonwealth and Improvement Workplace and to have that individual in place proper from the beginning.”

‘Much less respect’

The prime minister introduced the plan to convey DfID into the International Workplace on Tuesday, saying it could result in cash being spent on assist that higher mirrored the UK’s goals.

Mr Johnson mentioned the “lengthy overdue reform” would guarantee “most worth” for taxpayers, and the brand new International, Commonwealth and Improvement Workplace could be up and operating by September.

However the transfer – which has lengthy been mooted in Conservative circles – was criticised by Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer, who mentioned it could “diminish Britain’s place on the earth”.

Three former prime ministers – Conservative David Cameron, and Labour’s Gordon Brown and Tony Blair – additionally criticised the choice.

Mr Cameron mentioned it could imply “much less experience, much less voice for improvement on the prime desk and finally much less respect for the UK abroad”.

However fellow Tory and former International Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, mentioned after he had “wrestled with this concern”, it was the “proper factor to do”.