The civil service leaders’ union the FDA has accused former cabinet minister Sir Ben Wallace of undermining the work of officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office with his comments on the war in Ukraine.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, ex-defence secretary Wallace questioned whether the UK government is weakening its previous stance of opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the surrender of occupied territory.
Wallace suggested that at least some FCDO officials favoured appeasing president Vladimir Putin – a move he likened to the UK’s failed 1938 Munich Treaty attempt to avert war with Nazi Germany.
FDA general secretary Dave Penman said that Wallace, a former officer in the Scots Guards, ought to understand that officials’ role is to advise ministers on all options in any situation. He said the appeasement comments made that work harder.
“As Ben Wallace knows all too well, officials will always give ministers different policy options, setting out the consequences of those choices,” Penman said. “Those decisions are for ministers to make, and good ministers want to understand the full range of options – even those that are unpalatable.
“Language is important in these situations, and accusing officials of appeasement may make a good soundbite, but it undermines the difficult role that civil servants have to play in advising ministers on complex international conflicts like Ukraine.”
Wallace served as defence secretary from 2019 to 2023 – in the governments of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – before stepping down as an MP last year. He has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
This morning, he questioned comments current defence secretary John Healey made on Thursday’s edition of the Today programme.
In particular he said Healey had failed to positively confirm whether he agreed or disagreed with the US State Department’s position on the recognition of Crimea as “sovereign Russia”. Wallace said there was another question mark over whether the UK would recognise illegally-occupied or annexed territory under international law.
The former defence secretary claimed the interview resulted in ambiguity over previously “very clear government policy” that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must fail and that a proactive effort from the UK should support that mission.
“As far as I'm aware, there are people in the Foreign Office who would like us to, probably, echo 1938 appeasement and go down that line,” he said. “But let's remember what we're setting here – a precedent that a border taken by force can be recognised internationally would be one of the most dangerous precedents in this very troubled and unstable world to follow.”
Wallace said such a move would be a clear signal to Chinese president Xi Jinping, and worrying to the people of Greenland following US president Donald Trump’s comments earlier this year about forcefully taking control of the nation.
“I think it's not something we should ever allow or tolerate,” Wallace said.