Sir Ivan Rogers, Britain’s EU Ambassador, Resigns

Sir Ivan Rogers Submits Resignation Letter

Sir Ivan Rogers quits and warns his staff over ‘muddled thinking.’  The Ambassador to EU says negotiating experience is in ‘short supply.’  He further said that politicians disliked his warnings of pitfalls.  His resignation dealt a blow to the UK’s Brexit negotiations.  His resignation also urged his fellow British servants in Brussels to assert their independence by challenging “ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking.” 

Sir Ivan Rogers Quits Now so Successor Can Take Charge

Sir Ivan Rogers abrupt resignation was due to allow for his successor to take charge of the negotiation process scheduled to start in March.  He said it also had to do with his frustration by politicians who disliked his warnings about the potential pitfalls in the Brexit process.  He revealed that the basic structure of the UK Brexit negotiating team as well as the negotiating strategy, has not yet been resolved. 

He wrote, “I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power.” 

Some Tory members have attacked Rogers for his warning that it may take as long as 10 years for the UK to fully break from the EU.  He has also been attacked for setting out how other EU leaders view the Brexit process.  He wrote to his staff, “I hope that you will continue to be interested in the views of others, even when you disagree with them, and in understanding why others act and think in the way they do.” 

The Foreign Office tried to play down his resignation by saying that Rogers had been due to leave in November and that he had merely “resigned a few months early.”