Hoist By Old Words and Pax Americana.

Several senior Labour politicians who are now seated at the top table of power in Britain since the General Election have been highly scathing of Donald Trump in recent weeks. Words like ‘fascist’, ‘neo-Nazi’, and ‘sociopath’ (and worse) have been used by people who are now government ministers to describe the Old Pretender heading for the White House.

Clearly there is an almost palpable sense that the people now running the UK are mortified to say the least that Trump is heading for a second term. The problem is that they’re going to have to deal with him, especially one of the foremost detractors, David Lammy, who is now Foreign Secretary.

‘No problem,’ says Keir Starmer (who is also known to be less than a fan). He says that the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and the USA is far too deep to allow personal differences to get in the way. Besides, there’s the matter of economic exigency to be considered. The USA is Britain’s biggest export market, and given the difference in population sizes, the corollary to this argument must be that we need the US more than the US needs us. We also need American arms to help protect us from Putin, who lives much closer to us than he does to America. And so we have to grovel and tug our forelocks even if we detest every bit of Donald Trump, from his sociopathic mentality to his Simpsons hairstyle.

And that’s the bit I don’t like. As a Brit – and with all due respect to some of the splendid Americans I’ve been fortunate to know – I don’t want to be a citizen of the American Empire. I’ve even taken to wondering how the citizens of the Roman Empire felt when Caligula became Emperor.