"Ken Clarke recently remarked that Theresa May 'knows little about foreign affairs”'. Her appointment of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary demonstrates that this is the case in the clearest possible first opportunity.

His appointment is being met a snub to our closest allies, and in many cases regarded in the first instances as a ‘joke’. The consequences are however serious. It will make working internationally more difficult - it is indeed hard to get cooperation if the people you deal with don’t want to be in the same room as you and will do everything they can to avoid you.

Yet, more sadly it represents a downgrading of the foreign office and a post-Brexit British withdrawal from the international stage. Domestic politics and trumped international engagement on this occasion. This is a sad day for British diplomacy and our standing in the world."

Dr Oz Hassan is an Associate Professor in the Politics and International Studies Department at the University of Warwick.