BRITISH ambassadors can continue to publish their memoirs because there is no legal way to stop them, the head of the diplomatic service told The Times yesterday.

Sir Michael Jay, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said that his department had cleared the controversial book by Sir Christopher Meyer, the former ambassador to Washington, although it did not approve of its content.

“There have been many books by diplomats in the past, submitted in the usual way, cleared and so on, and I am sure that will continue,” he said.

“But it is not so much the question of book or no book. It is a question of the kind of book that can damage the relationship between ministers and officials and therefore the conduct of business.”

DC Confidential, Sir Christopher’s account of his time as Britain’s envoy to Washington, upset the Government with embarrassing details about the Prime Minister and the shortcomings of several of his ministers, whom Sir Christopher dismissed as political “pygmies”.

After publication of the book Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, criticised Sir Christopher and said that he should consider his position as head of Press Complaints Commission.

A legal loophole seems to have allowed Sir Christopher to publish and others may follow. A book called The Cost of War, which is about the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, by Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the former British envoy to the United Nations and Tony Blair’s representative to Baghdad, is currently with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Sir Michael suggested that it could eventually be cleared for publication if some changes were agreed.

Sir Michael wrote to all Britain’s ambassadors and high commissioners abroad last week, emphasising the importance of “trust and confidence” between ministers and diplomats. “If we don’t do that, then everybody loses,” he said. “We lose as diplomats because ministers do not consult us and involve us. Ministers lose because they do not get the advice that they need and, I believe, we should give them.

“And the conduct of foreign policy loses because you do not have that relationship between ministers, diplomats and ambassadors that I believe is crucially important for our interests.”

Rather than dwelling on the shortcomings of British diplomacy, Sir Michael said that we should be encouraged by the successes of Britain’s dual presidency of the G8 group of wealthy nations and the European Union.

He said that, after the G8 summit in Gleneagles this year, the global issues of development in Africa and climate change had been “substantially” advanced. Also, aid to Africa’s poorest countries has been given a boost with billions committed to helping economies and to fighting disease.

There was also unprecedented co-operation on tackling global warming and the prospect of more progress before next month’s trade talks in Hong Kong.

Britain’s EU presidency is not over until the end of the year. But Sir Michael said that British diplomacy had scored a substantial victory when negotiations opened formally with Turkey to join the EU.

“It is a hugely important achievement,” he said. “It was a good example of how a well-placed ambassador — Sir Peter Westmacott in Ankara — with the right kind of links can make a real difference to the execution of policy.”

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