Labour queries disgraced ex-minister Chris Pincher’s involvement in Harry Dunn killer Anne Sacoolas’ diplomatic immunity
Labour has asked the government whether disgraced former minister Chris Pincher made any attempts to stop American Anne Sacoolas going to the US after she killed Harry Dunn in a road accident.
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has written to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly about the “series of failures” in the Foreign Office after Sacoolas was allowed to leave the UK and given diplomatic immunity following the 2019 incident.
Last week, the American former spy was handed a suspended eight-month prison sentence for causing death by dangerous driving after she crashed into motorcyclist Mr Dunn, 19, while driving on the wrong side of the road outside a US military base in Northamptonshire, where her husband worked.
The case led to a transatlantic row between the US and UK governments after the US administration asserted diplomatic immunity on her, allowing her to leave the UK 19 days later. She has never returned.
Mr Lammy has asked the foreign secretary to reveal the extent of the involvement of Chris Pincher, who was Minister for Europe and the Americas at the time, in liaising with US diplomatic authorities when Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity handed to her.
Mr Pincher was a Conservative MP then, but is now an independent after he had the whip removed when he was accused earlier this year of groping two men when he was drunk – which ultimately led to Boris Johnson’s resignation.
Mr Lammy has also called on the government to publish details of Mr Pincher’s correspondence with the US about Sacoolas’ immunity.
And he asked Mr Cleverly if Mr Pincher or Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who was foreign secretary at the time, provided “any objection at all” to the US removing Sacoolas from the UK.
He said the US authorities informed the Foreign Office in September 2019 they intended to remove her “unless there is a strong objection”.
Chris Pincher was Minister for Europe and the Americas when Harry Dunn was killed
Lessons need to be learned
Mr Lammy has also called on the Foreign Office to carry out an inquiry into the case and make sure lessons have been learnt around exemptions for diplomatic immunity, and publish what lessons have been learned.
The shadow foreign secretary asked why the Foreign Office did not provide official representation with Mr Dunn’s family when they visited then-president Donald Trump in 2019 to urge him to get Sacoolas to return to the UK and engage with a police investigation.
Mr Trump had Sacoolas waiting in the room next door to talk to them in what Mr Lammy said was “an ambush” by the president.
Mr Dunn’s parents, Charlotte Charles and Timm Dunn, turned down the surprise offer as they described it as “not appropriate” with no mediators or therapists present.
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‘Why didn’t you go to UK to attend court?’
Mr Lammy said: “This week’s judgment on the Harry Dunn case marks at least some justice after the Dunn family’s courageous and unwavering fight for Harry following his tragic death.
“The pain the Dunn family have had to endure, made worse by a series of failures in Foreign Office, must never be repeated. No other family can ever be allowed to go through this again.”
Radd Seiger, the Dunn family’s spokesman, said they have “no intention of becoming embroiled in a political spat” and criticised the government for not helping them out until they launched a public campaign to get justice.
He told Sky News: “We were shocked to learn this year that it was in fact the now disgraced Chris Pincher, then Minister for the Americas, that was supposedly the man in charge of standing up to the might of the US Superpower to insist that Anne Sacoolas did not leave.
“It is only right and proper that his decisions and actions, and those of his teams, now be scrutinised publicly as David Lammy has called for. We want and are entitled to know why this scandal was allowed to unfold and what is going to be done to ensure it never happens again. There has to be an inquiry.”
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‘It was three years of pure fight’
During Sacoolas’ sentencing last week, the judge praised Mr Dunn’s parents and family for their “dignified persistence”, which she said had led Sacoolas to “acknowledge her guilt”.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “Since Harry’s death in August 2019 we have been clear that Ms Sacoolas should return to the UK to face British justice.
“Since she chose not to, virtual hearings were arranged as the most viable way to bring the case to Court and give justice to Harry’s family.
“I want to pay tribute to the incredible resolve of Harry’s family and I hope that the judgment provides some closure.
“We have learnt important lessons from this tragic incident, including improvements to the process around exemptions from diplomatic immunity and ensuring the US takes steps to improve road safety around RAF Croughton.”
Sky News has contacted Mr Pincher’s office for a comment.
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South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.
His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
Stock markets around the world fell on Thursday after Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs – with some economists now fearing a recession.
The US president announced tariffs for almost every country – including 10% rates on imports from the UK – on Wednesday evening, sending financial markets reeling.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
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All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
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It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”
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