New Zealand sacked its most senior ambassador to the United Kingdom on Thursday over remarks that questioned US President Donald Trump’s understanding of history.
At an event in London on Tuesday, British High Commissioner Phil Goff compared efforts to end the Ukrainian military conflict to the 1938 Munich Agreement, which allowed Adolf Hitler to annex Czechoslovakia. Goff recalled how Sir Winston Churchill criticised the agreement.
The ambassador then commented on the US president. He said:
“President Trump has restored a bust of Churchill in the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?”
He compared Trump to Churchill, who, when removed from the British government, opposed the Munich Agreement because he saw it as a surrender to the threats of Nazi Germany. Goff quoted Churchill rebuking then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain:
“You had a choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, but war awaits you.”
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Goff’s comments were “deeply disappointing” and made his position “untenable.”
Peters said Goff’s views did not reflect those of the New Zealand government. “When you hold a position like that, you represent the government and the politics of the day, you don’t get to think freely, you are the face of New Zealand,” local media quoted Peters as saying. “That’s not how you behave as the face of the country, diplomatically speaking.”
Goff has served as high commissioner since January 2023. Earlier, he held several ministerial posts, including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.
