We all have bad days occasionally don't we? Yesterday was such a one for Sir Simon McDonald KCMG KCVO the top banana (straight one) at the FCO. He appeared by teleconference before Tom Tugenhadt's Foreign Affairs Select Committee and in answer to a question from Chris Bryant, after a bit of hesitation, he clearly told them the decision to reject participation in the EU procurement scheme for equipment and supplies to fight the pandemic was a "political decision". See the video of the exchange below:
But then it all started to go wrong. Journalists must have been informed, presumably by somebody in Downing Street that Sir Simon was going to issue a "clarification". They waited to see what it was. McDonald was probably having burning matchsticks pushed down his fingernails. And they waited. Laura Kuenssberg eventually telling her 1.1 million followers:
So promised 'clarification' from Sir Simon McDonald is taking rather a while...— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) April 21, 2020
And then out came a letter from Sir Simon. What he had told the committee has been "incorrect". Not just in some small detail but in every solid fact he had provided a few hours before.
Ministers were NOT briefed about the scheme by our mission in Brussels and ministers did NOT take a political decision not to take part in it. Clear? Well, it might have been if Matt Hancock had not immediately afterwards told the world that he had agreed to take part in the scheme as health secretary but that no equipment had yet been delivered. He didn't seem to know any more detail than that.
Minds were boggled, including that of professor Chris Grey who tweeted the letter with his incredulous comments:
And Lewis Goodall who also tweeted:This is quite extraordinary, and conflicts with several reputable media reports. Maybe they are wrong, but it's important and can't just be left at this, very strange, retraction. https://t.co/MKYcYvbfSx— Chris Grey (@chrisgreybrexit) April 21, 2020
It must have been the ultimate humiliation for a permanent under secretary of state at the foreign office. It beggars belief that he could have made such an error. Mandarins like him simply do not make such mistakes. If his letter is taken as the truth he appears to be ignorant of what goes off in his department and in government across Whitehall.“Turns out quite literally everything I said earlier was completely wrong” pic.twitter.com/CSQSNVvN71— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) April 21, 2020
The matter will not end there.
This story still has a very long way to run.
