Simon McDonald: ex-top civil servant who accuses No 10 of misleading public

With four decades of experience as a diplomat and official, the 61-year-old is an unlikely figure to accuse a government of lying

A brief glance at Simon McDonald's career resume makes him appear one of the unlikeliest people to openly accuse a government of lying: four decades as a diplomat and official, with a string of top honours after his name, culminating in a peerage.

It is true that during his long stint at the Foreign Office, the man known formally as Lord McDonald of Salford had to deal with a string of hugely sensitive issues, from the tantrums of Donald Trump to being accused himself of complicity in undermining an overseas government.