WE'LL HAVE HILL
Donald Trump’s call for Nigel Farage to be made UK’s US ambassador mocked by MPs who suggest Hillary Clinton should be America’s top diplomat in London instead
DONALD Trump’s call for Nigel Farage to be made Britain's ambassador to the US have been mocked by MPs – with one hitting back by suggesting Hillary Clinton should be America's top diplomat in London.
In a highly unusual intervention, the President-elect said in a tweet that "many people would like to see” the interim Ukip leader take up the role in Washington.
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But despite the real estate mogul claiming he “would do a great job!" parliamentarians disagreed, with one saying “diplomats need diplomacy”.
And Conservative MP Sir Simon Burns - who is a self-confessed Hillary superfan - poked fun at his "extremely generous" advice.
He told the Commons, he said: "And in that measure of fraternity, might he suggest that the best person to fill the vacancy of the ambassador to the United Kingdom next year would be Hillary Rodham Clinton?”
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His remarks sparked laughter among MPs across the benches and prompted Speaker John Bercow to remark: "I think the right honourable gentlemen might want to be the ambassador to the United States."
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson slapped down any suggestion the Mr Farage could be considered for the top job, and praised Britain's incumbent ambassador, Sir Kim Darroch.
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He said: "Mr Speaker, you anticipate what I was about to say. But of course my right honourable friend would be a very good candidate.
"On the other hand, as the House knows full well, we have a first rate ambassador in Washington doing a very good job of relating both with the present administration and with the administration to be, and there is no vacancy for that position."
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Keith Simpson, the Tory MP for Broadland, welcomed Mr Johnson's position on the matter.
He said: "I think we are all relieved that the Foreign Secretary has ruled out Mr Farage.
"In this post-truth world, we might have assumed that he might have been sympathetic given they had campaigned together so remarkably on Brexit.
Fellow Conservative Dan Poulter stressed the importance of diplomats displaying the quality of diplomacy in a thinly veiled attack on Mr Farage.
He said: "Would you agree with me that there should be no place for anyone who expresses inflammatory and what sometimes could be considered to be bordering on racist views in representing this country in discussions with the United States?"
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Mr Johnson also used his appearance at the despatch box for Foreign Office questions to dismiss using Tony Blair to aid Brexit negotiations with a Latin quotation.
He was asked by MP Nigel Evans if the remain-backing former Labour prime minister could play a role in "banging the drum for Brand Britain", while also accepting that Britain is leaving the EU.
The pro-Brexit minister replied by revealing he was tempted to say "Non tali auxilio, nec defensoribus istis", the Latin of poet Virgil, which means "not this aid and not these defenders".
Mr Blair's spokesman confirmed earlier this week that he is setting up a new London office, and is linked to a Richard Branson-backed campaign to keep Britain in the EU.
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