Chris Pincher, whose allegations of groping led to Boris Johnson’s resignation, was Minister for the Americas when Anne Sacoolas was granted diplomatic immunity and relocated to the United States after she hit and killed Harry Dunn while driving the wrong way down the road.
Labour has questioned the government whether disgraced ex-minister Chris Pincher attempted to prevent Anne Sacoolas, who killed Harry Dunn in a car accident, from returning to the United States.
David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, has written to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly about the Foreign Office’s “series of failings” after Sacoolas was permitted to depart the United Kingdom and granted diplomatic immunity following the 2019 incident.
Last week, the former American spy was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence for causing death by dangerous driving when she collided with motorcyclist Mr. Dunn, 19, while driving on the wrong side of the road near a US military installation in Northamptonshire where her husband served.
After the US administration declared her diplomatic immunity, allowing her to depart the UK 19 days later, the issue sparked a transatlantic dispute between the US and UK administrations. She has never come back.
Mr. Lammy has requested that the foreign secretary disclose the nature of Minister for Europe and the Americas Chris Pincher’s participation in talking with US diplomatic officials when Sacoolas was granted diplomatic immunity.
Mr. Pincher was a Conservative MP at the time, but he is now an independent after losing the whip when he was accused of drunkenly molesting two men earlier this year, which ultimately led to the resignation of Boris Johnson.
Mr. Lammy has also urged the government to release Mr. Pincher’s correspondence with the United States over Sacoolas’ immunity.
And he questioned Mr. Cleverly as to whether Mr. Pincher or Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who was foreign secretary at the time, had “any issue whatsoever” with the United States withdrawing Sacoolas from the United Kingdom.
According to him, the United States notified the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office in September 2019 that they intended to remove her “unless there are substantial objections.”
Lessons must be acquired
Mr. Lammy has also requested that the Foreign Office investigate the situation, ensure that lessons have been learned regarding diplomatic immunity exemptions, and disclose those lessons.
The shadow foreign secretary inquired as to why the Foreign Office did not give official representation when Mr. Dunn’s family contacted then-president Donald Trump in 2019 to urge him to get Sacoolas to return to the United Kingdom and cooperate with a police inquiry.
In what Mr. Lammy described as an “ambush,” Mr. Trump had Sacoolas waiting in the room next door to speak with them.
Charlotte Charles and Timm Dunn, the parents of Mr. Dunn, declined the surprise offer, describing it as “inappropriate” in the absence of mediators or therapists.
Mr. Lammy stated, “This week’s verdict in the Harry Dunn case represents at least some justice for the Dunn family, who fought bravely and steadfastly for Harry after his untimely death.”
“The suffering endured by the Dunn family, made worse by a succession of Foreign Office mistakes, must never be repeated. No other family should ever have to endure this again.”
The week prior, during Sacoolas’ sentencing, the judge commended Mr. Dunn’s parents and family for their “dignified tenacity,” which she said pushed Sacoolas to “acknowledge her culpability.”
The Dunn family’s spokesman, Radd Seiger, stated, “Our actual enemy here is the United States government, not Anne Sacoolas.”
