UK suffers 'major failure for diplomacy' after losing seat on UN International Court of Justice, says Tory MP

Senior judge Christopher Greenwood withdraws from the race, leaving Britain without a seat on the UN's international court for first time since 1946

Britain’s failure to elect a judge to the UN’s most powerful court has been branded a “major failure for diplomacy” by a Tory MP.

Robert Jenrick, a parliamentary aide to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, launched a stinging attack on the Government over the decision to withdraw the UK candidate from election to the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ).

It is the first time the UK will be without a judge on the 15-seat bench in the Hague since its inception in 1946, in what will be regarded as a blow to the nation’s diplomatic prestige.

Speaking during Foreign Office questions in the Commons, the Newark MP said: “There’s no hiding that the loss of a British judge on the ICJ is a major failure for British diplomacy.

“What lessons will the Foreign Office learn to ensure this doesn’t happen again?”

The SNP’s Patrick Grady said the move showed “the sun setting on Empire 2.0 before it’s even risen”, while Shadow Foreign secretary Emily Thornberry described it as ”a shocking indictment of Britain’s declining international standing”.

But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson dismissed the criticism, saying: “I don’t think I can quite agree with the construction my friend places on events but I will repeat my congratulations to the Indian judge and, as the House will know, it has been a long-standing objective of UK foreign policy to support India in the UN.”

The UK and India had been set to go head to head for the last seat available on the bench but UN ambassador Matthew Rycroft announced that the current British judge, Christopher Greenwood, would withdraw from the race.

His withdrawal means Indian judge Dalveer Bhandari will take the position, with four other judges already having been elected to the ICJ.

Mr Rycroft said: “The UK has concluded that it is wrong to continue to take up the valuable time of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly with further rounds of elections.

“The UK congratulates the successful candidates, including Judge Bhandari of India.

“We are naturally disappointed, but it was a competitive field with six strong candidates. If the UK could not win in this run-off, then we are pleased that it is a close friend like India that has done so instead.

“We will continue to cooperate closely with India, here in the UN and globally.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re naturally disappointed, but it was a competitive field. We’ve congratulated the successful candidate.”