the uk s most senior diplomat in brussels, sir ivan rogers, has resigned. sir ivan was criticised for warning the government that it could take a decade to reach a new post brexit trade deal with the european union. he told his office today that he would be stepping down as ambassador early just two months before formal brexit talks are due to begin. he was appointed by the then prime minister david cameron in november 2013. the reason for his resignation has not been revealed. let s get more from our political correspondent iain watson at westminster. quite a surprise, iain. a surprise to many people, he has not got back to many people, he has not got back to us to cast any light on the reasons for his resignation. he has not given by public resignation letter, that is unlikely to happen as he is supposed to remain impartial and behind the scenes. he was brought from the shadows if you like into the limelight, and uncomfortable place for a diplomat when he suggested it cou
welcome to bbc news. the uk s most senior diplomat in brussels, sir ivan rogers, has resigned. sir ivan was criticised for warning the government that it could take a decade to reach a trade deal with the european union once britain has left. he told his office today that he would be stepping down as ambassador early just two months before formal brexit talks are due to begin. he was appointed by the then prime minister david cameron in november 2013. the reason for his resignation has not been revealed. let s get more from our political correspondent iain watson at westminster. we still don t know, we still haven t heard anything from him? i m afraid we haven t. what is interesting is the downing street statement, a pretty anodyne couple of lines from number ten, effectively saying the reason he stood down in fact was to give a successof stood down in fact was to give a successor the chance to be in place before the brexit negotiations took place. of course we expect artic
of the bloodiest episodes of the first world war, will be held this summer. and going full circle. how vinyl is making a comeback, with the sales of records hitting a 25 year high. it s 5 o clock. our main story: the uk s most senior diplomat in brussels has resigned just weeks after he warned it could take a decade to reach a trade deal with the european union once britain has left. sir ivan rodgers told his office today that he would be stepping down as ambassador to the eu early just two months before formal brexit talks are due to start. he was appointed by the then prime minister david cameron in november 2013. while his four year term would have come to an end this november, some believed he might stay on for the brexit talks. the reasons for his resignation haven t been revealed. in the last hour, brexit campaigner and former ukip leader, nigel farage, has told the bbc that he s very pleased to see sir ivan hand in his resignation. afterall, he s a committed europhil
militants. he had joined the kurdish militia. in a moment it will be time for sportsday but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. we ll have the latest from washington where congress is convening for its first session since donald trump s election victory. republicans ditch plans to reduce the powers of an independent ethics watchdog, after the president elect questioned the move. the government s announcing events to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of passchendaele we take a look back at one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war. i ll be reviewing tomorrow s papers with pippa crerar from the evening standard and charlie wells from the wall streetjournal. that s all ahead on bbc news. now on bbc news it s time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday i m damian johnson. ahead on the programme. mission accepted former derby boss paul clement replaces bob bradley with the aim of preventing swansea from dropping ou