英國駐美大使金·達羅克在上周三宣布辭職，此前因為他嘲笑美國總統唐納德·特朗普領導下的政府“極其不正常”且“一片混亂”的言論外泄，引發了巨大的外交風暴。言論泄密后，特朗普挾憤報復，在推特（Twitter）上大罵達羅克，并稱拒絕與其合作。

總之，英美之間所謂的“特殊關系”已經跌落至長期以來的低點。有些人卻從中看到了兩國關系破冰的一線希望。

“這個決定很正確。”英國退歐黨領袖奈杰爾·法拉奇在推特上寫道，他曾經是英國獨立黨領袖，也是支持英國脫離歐盟的主要活動家之一。“是時候讓希望與美國達成貿易協議的非留歐派人士加入了。”

在英國前首相戈登·布朗和戴維·卡梅倫任職期間，達羅克曾經擔任英國常駐歐盟代表，退歐派認為他過于傾向歐盟。

英國退歐的主要原因之一就是之后英國可以達成自己的貿易協定。現在英國還不可以，因為留在歐盟就意味著，要由歐盟作為國家集團來進行談判和簽署貿易協議。歐盟與美國之間沒有自由貿易協定，但英國離開歐盟后就可以跟美國簽訂。

約翰遜的角色

除了法拉奇，英國退歐的另一位“拉拉隊長”是很有機會擔任下任英國首相的鮑里斯·約翰遜，而他正因在達羅克事件的處置而受到嚴厲抨擊。

雖然約翰遜曾經指責特朗普“無知程度令人震驚，老實說很不適合擔任美國總統”，但最近他跟特朗普的關系卻相當密切。

約翰遜去年辭去了英國外交大臣的職務，在任期間他曾經表示“越來越贊賞唐納德·特朗普”，還認為特朗普的混亂風格對英國爭取順利退歐有所幫助。幾個月前，特朗普曾經支持約翰遜競選下一任英國首相。不久之后，特朗普建議英美貿易談判時應該公開討論英國人很看重的醫療服務，激怒了眾多英國政客，多數英國首相候選人群起抨擊特朗普，但約翰遜不在其列。

在達羅克備忘錄外泄后，人們廣泛認為約翰遜的立場是壓倒他的最后一根稻草。上周二與另一位英國首相候選人的外交大臣杰里米·亨特辯論時，約翰遜拒絕支持達羅克，也拒絕譴責特朗普在推特上辱罵達羅克。

在辯論中，特雷莎·梅和亨特都支持達羅克，但據英國《金融時報》報道，辯論結束后達羅克告訴同事，很明顯一旦約翰遜當選就炒掉他，不會容他按計劃在年底退休，因此選擇自己走人。另據《衛報》報道，正是這場辯論讓達羅克下定決心辭職。

因此，約翰遜受到政界猛烈抨擊，他所在的保守黨大臣們猛烈抨擊他沒幫達羅克說話。 “基本上可以說（約翰遜）為了個人利益把這位優秀的外交官扔到了公交車下。” 歐洲大臣艾倫·鄧肯說道。

“如果英國不能保護外交溝通，外交人員只因為執行政府意愿就付出職業生涯的代價，會導致派出的大使的素質下降，影響力變小，國家變弱。”當達羅克辭職的消息傳出后，保守黨議員湯姆·圖根哈特在推特上寫道。

余波

備忘錄最初是如何泄露給《星期日郵報》的呢？亨特已經證實，英國政府正在考慮有沒有可能是某個敵對國家，可能是俄羅斯或伊朗黑客入侵后獲取了達羅克的外交公文，并散發了出去。無論這種猜測是否屬實，警方現已介入調查。

至于達羅克的繼任者，目前還不清楚此人對英國退歐還是對跟美國達成貿易協定更感興趣。由于達羅克現在已經辭職，沒有等到約翰遜接手政府，因此下一任大使可能要由目前擔任看守內閣首相的特雷莎·梅任命，直到黨內成員選出繼任者接替梅為止。

會是法拉奇嗎？上周三，這位英國退歐黨領導人呼吁讓“希望與美國達成貿易協議的非留歐派”接替達羅克時，有些人認為他對自己的企圖幾乎不加掩飾。

讓法拉奇擔任駐美大使的想法早就有過：特朗普曾經在2016年建議法拉奇取代達羅奇。當時英國政府表示拒絕，說達羅克做得很好，謝了。

哪怕大使職位現已空缺，英國眾多批評法拉奇的人士還是不愿意考慮他。

“法拉奇會為誰考慮呢？”蘇格蘭民族黨領袖尼古拉·斯特金在推特上說道。“不管是公務員政治化，還是讓法拉奇這樣的騙子接任光榮的外交官一職，都不應該發生。”（財富中文網）

譯者：艾倫

審校：夏林

Darroch quit last Wednesday, following an extraordinary diplomatic storm around leaked comments in which he derided President Donald Trump’s administration as “uniquely dysfunctional” and “chaotic.” The leak prompted a furious retaliation from Trump, who insulted Darroch on Twitter and said he refused to work with the ambassador.

All in all, it’s the lowest point in a long while for the supposed “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K. But some see a silver lining.

“The right decision,” tweeted Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit party and, in his former incarnation as U.K. Independence Party leader, one of the principle campaigners for the U.K.’s departure from the EU. “Time [to] put in a non-Remainer who wants a trade deal with America.”

Darroch previously served as the U.K.’s permanent representative to the European Union, under former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and David Cameron, and Brexiteers view him as being overly sympathetic to the EU.

One of the main rationales behind Brexit is that it will allow the U.K. to strike its own trade agreements. Right now it cannot do so, because being in the EU means negotiating and signing trade deals as a bloc. The EU does not have a free-trade agreement with the U.S., but the U.K. would be able to enter into such a deal after leaving the EU.

Johnson’s role

Apart from Farage, the other chief cheerleader for Brexit was Boris Johnson, who is highly likely to become Britain’s next prime minister, and he is taking serious flak for his role in the Darroch affair.

Although Johnson once accused Trump of “quite stupefying ignorance that makes him frankly unfit to hold the office of president of the United States,” he has recently been quite tight with Trump.

As foreign secretary, a role he quit last year, Johnson said he was “increasingly admiring of Donald Trump,” and argued that the president’s chaotic style would be useful in trying to get a good Brexit result. A couple months ago, Trump backed Johnson in his bid to replace May. Shortly afterwards, when Trump outraged British politicians across the spectrum by suggesting that the country’s beloved health service should be “on the table” in U.K.-U.S. trade talks, Johnson was one of the few leadership candidates not to attack the president.

Johnson’s stance on the leaked Darroch memos is widely seen as having been the final straw for the embattled ambassador. In a Tuesday debate against U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Johnson’s rival in the prime minister race, Johnson refused to back Darroch or to condemn Trump over his tweeted insults against the ambassador.

May and Hunt had both supported Darroch in the dispute. But, according to the Financial Times, Darroch told colleagues after the debate that it was clear Johnson would fire him ahead of Darroch’s planned retirement at the end of the year, so he walked the plank instead. The Guardian also separately reported that the debate made up Darroch’s mind.

Johnson, as a result, is receiving heavy political blowback, with ministers from his own Conservative party lashing out at his failure to stand up for Darroch. “[Johnson has] basically thrown this fantastic diplomat under a bus to serve his own personal interests,” said Europe Minister Alan Duncan.

“If the U.K. can’t protect diplomatic communications and that costs people their careers when all they’ve done is to execute the wishes of the government, we will degrade the quality of our envoys, diminish our influence and weaken our country,” tweeted Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative Party lawmaker, following the news of the resignation.

The fallout

But how did the memos leak to the Mail on Sunday in the first place? Hunt has confirmed that the government is considering the possibility that Darroch’s diplomatic missives were hacked and passed on by a hostile state, possibly Russia or Iran. Whether or not this turns out to be true, the police are now involved in the investigation.

As for the identity of Darroch’s replacement, it’s by no means clear that he or she will be more enthusiastic about either Brexit or the prospect of a U.S. trade deal. Because Darroch resigned now, rather than waiting for Johnson to take over, the next ambassador could be appointed by May, who is still hanging around as caretaker prime minister until her replacement is chosen by party members.

Might Farage get the job? When the Brexit Party leader called on last Wednesday for Darroch’s replacement to be a “non-Remainer who wants a trade deal with America,” some saw it as a thinly-veiled attempt at self-nomination.

The idea of Farage as ambassador has been floated before: Trump suggested Farage replace Darroch back in 2016. At the time, the British government shot down the idea, saying Darrach was doing the job just fine, thanks.

Even with the ambassador role now vacant, Farage’s critics in the U.K.—there are many—are recoiling at the idea.

“Who could Farage be thinking of?” tweeted Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party. “The last thing that should happen is the politicization of the civil service and the replacement of honorable diplomats with charlatans like this guy.”