UK's top EU diplomat quits

EU and UK Flags - PA

The UK’s most senior diplomat in Brussels has stepped down just months before Theresa May plans to trigger Article 50.

Although the reason for his departure is not yet known, reports suggest Sir Ivan's relationship with Downing Street had soured in recent months.

He hit the headlines in December after a memo was leaked in which he advised ministers that senior Brussels figures believed a post-Brexit trade deal could take as long as a decade to complete.

RELATED CONTENT

EU ruling against 'snooper's charter' could leave Britain at risk of terror attacks, says for MI5 chief

Spain rejects Nicola Sturgeon's plan for Scotland to stay in single market

Sir Ivan is a long-serving Whitehall official who has previously worked as private secretary to former chancellor Ken Clarke and to Tony Blair when he was prime minister.

The resignation comes as a blow ahead of what are sure to be complicated and protracted negotiations over the UK’s post-Brexit status.

Rogers wrote to staff telling them ministers needed to hear “unvarnished” and “uncomfortable" views from Europe as he notified them of his resignation ten months before originally planned.

A Government spokesman said Sir Ivan quit as Britain’s ambassador to the EU so a replacement could be in post before Theresa May triggers Article 50 – a point Rogers confirmed in his note.

But reports suggest his relationship with Downing Street fractured after he warned it could take as long as a decade to complete a post-Brexit trade deal.

Sources told the Daily Telegraph Sir Ivan had “jumped before he was pushed” and the Prime Minister had “lost confidence” in him over his “pessimistic” views about the UK's EU exit.

In his letter to colleagues, leaked to sections of the press, Sir Ivan said:  "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.

"I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them."

Turning to the UK’s Brexit negotiations, Sir Ivan said "serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall", unlike in EU institutions.

A government spokesperson said: "Sir Ivan Rogers has resigned a few months early as UK permanent representative to the European Union.

"Sir Ivan has taken this decision now to enable a successor to be appointed before the UK invokes Article 50 by the end of March. We are grateful for his work and commitment over the last three years."