London - A senior British diplomat in
Washington has resigned, saying she did not want to "peddle
half-truths" over Brexit for a government she did not trust, CNN
reported on Friday.
Britons head to the polls on December 12 for an election which
will decide the fate of Britain's exit from the European Union.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservatives have said they
will deliver Brexit by the end of January, while the opposition
Labour Party, who are trailing in the polls, plans to
renegotiate the exit deal and put it to another referendum.
Citing a copy of her resignation letter, dated December 3, CNN
reported Alexandra Hall Hall, who had been Brexit Counsellor in
the British embassy in Washington since 2018, said her position
had become "unbearable personally, and untenable
professionally".
"I have been increasingly dismayed by the way in which our
political leaders have tried to deliver Brexit, with reluctance
to address honestly, even with our own citizens, the challenges
and trade-offs which Brexit involves," she wrote.
"It makes our job to promote democracy and the rule of law
that much harder, if we are not seen to be upholding these core
values at home."
A former British ambassador to Georgia who had worked for
the foreign office for 33 years, Hall Hall said her decision to
quit had nothing to do with being "for or against Brexit, per
se".
"I am also at a stage in life where I would prefer to do
something more rewarding with my time, than peddle half-truths
on behalf of a government I do not trust," she wrote.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed Hall Hall had
resigned but a spokeswoman said it would not comment on the
detail of an individual's resignation.
CNN said Hall Hall's role involved explaining Britain's
approach to Brexit to U.S. politicians and that she felt her
diplomatic role had been co-opted to deliver messages that were
"neither fully honest nor politically impartial".
It said she had filed a formal complaint about being asked
to convey overtly partisan language on Brexit in Washington.