Nigel Farage lashed out at the UK’s ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, after a series of scathing memos were leaked. Sir Alan Duncan told the Commons he “threw something” at the radio as Mr Farage’s appeared on the Today Programme, before “switching it off”. During urgent questions in the Commons, Labour MP Madeleine Moon said: “Sir Kim Darroch has always been someone who gave honest and frank reports, no matter which party he represented.

“Whenever delegations go to the US, it is vital that the briefings they have are honest and impartial, and they always have been.

“On the positive that happened this morning, is that during my journey to the station so many people I spoke to tuned in to Radio 4.

“And the minute they brought on Nigel Farage to make his comment, they immediately turned off because they felt his opinion on Sir Kim was so appalling.”

Sir Duncan replied: “I’d rather like to echo everything the honourable lady has just said.

“I also heard him on the radio and after throwing something at it I then switched it off.

“The Washington Embassy is a remarkable institution, the number of people who go through the Washington Embassy every year is enormous.

“And yet with style, dignity and a warm welcome the staff and the diplomatic team cope with it marvellously and make everybody feel they have been paid proper attention to.

“So I commend them for everything they do and long may it continue.”

Sir Kim claimed Donald Trump was “incompetent”, “inept” and “insecure” in the memos.

He also said the White House had become “uniquely dysfunctional” with Mr Trump as President, due to “vicious infighting and chaos”.

He said: “We don’t really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction driven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept.”

Mr Darroch also said the president had been “dazzled” by the pomp and ceremony of his state visit to the UK in June.

Calling for the ambassador to be sacked, the Brexit Party leader warned these leaked memos have done serious damage to the US-UK relationship. Mr Farage insisted Sir Kim’s replacement should be someone outside of the civil service because it is “not politically neutral”.

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He added: “It would be a very good signal to find somebody from outside of the Foreign Office or outside of the civil service.

“You know, a retired business figure – something like that would send the right message.”

Following the release of the memos, US President Donald Trump has hit out at the ambassador.

Mr Trump told reporters: “The ambassador has not served the UK well, I can tell you that. We are not big fans of that man and he has not served the UK well.

“So I can understand it, and I can say things about him but I won’t bother.”

A formal inquiry is set to be held into the leak of the memos.

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