New Zealand’s Excessive Commissioner to the UK has been fired over feedback he made about Donald Trump.
Phil Goff, New Zealand’s most senior envoy to Britain, questioned the US president’s grasp of historical past at an occasion held by the worldwide affairs suppose tank Chatham Home in London on Tuesday.
He referenced a well-known speech by British wartime chief Sir Winston Churchill in 1938, through which the long run prime minister – then an MP in Neville Chamberlain’s authorities – rebuked Britain’s signing of the Munich Settlement.
The settlement with Adolf Hitler allowed Germany to annex a part of Czechoslovakia.
Mr Goff quoted Sir Winston as saying to Mr Chamberlain: “You had the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, yet you will have war.”
Mr Goff went on to say: “President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?”
The query was directed at Finland’s overseas minister Elina Valtonen, a visitor speaker on the occasion.
Because the viewers laughed on the New Zealand envoy’s query, Ms Valtonen mentioned she would “limit myself” to saying that Sir Winston had “made very timeless remarks”.
New Zealand overseas minister Winston Peters instructed reporters Mr Goff’s remarks had been “disappointing” and made the envoy’s place “untenable”.
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Mr Peters added: “When you are in that position you represent the government and the policies of the day.
“You are not capable of free-think, you’re the face of New Zealand.
“We have asked the secretary of foreign affairs and trade, Bede Corry, to now work through with Mr Goff the upcoming leadership transition at the New Zealand High Commission in London.”
Officers had been “in discussion with High Commissioner Goff about his return to New Zealand”, in response to a written assertion.
Mr Goff has been New Zealand’s envoy to the UK since January 2023. He has not responded to a request for remark.
The nation’s former prime minister, Helen Clark – who was Mr Goff’s boss throughout his time as a minister – criticised his sacking, saying the episode was “a very thin excuse” for eradicating a “highly respected” former overseas minister from his diplomatic position.
