Popinjays of the Left betray us over Trump
THERE’S something deeply treacherous about the Left’s gloating over Donald Trump’s decision – revealed in yesterday’s Mail – to cancel his visit to Britain. Whatever anyone may think of the President (and this paper has made its own reservations clear) our national interest in cultivating good relations with our strongest ally is obvious for all to see. This is particularly true now, as we look forward to our freedom to negotiate trade deals outside the EU.
Until yesterday, we seemed enviably placed to profit from Mr Trump’s declared love of our country by strengthening links with America, with which we already run a surplus of £33billion a year (in contrast to our £82billion deficit with the EU).
After all, Theresa May was one of the first he welcomed to the White House. And where Barack Obama threatened to send us to the ‘back of the queue’ for a trade deal, he promised to move us to the front.
But now petty, posturing Left-wingers have put all this goodwill in jeopardy, queueing up to insult the President and his country by telling him he isn’t welcome.
Perhaps most damnable of all is Sadiq Khan, the self-obsessed Labour Mayor of London. How can this ‘puffed-up, pompous popinjay’ (to quote Boris Johnson’s apt description), claim to speak for the whole population of a city whose economy benefits hugely from US investment?
True, Mr Trump claims he has called off his visit in protest against his predecessors’ decision to move America’s embassy from its prime site in Grosvenor Square to a decidedly less prestigious location.
Clearly, however, he has also been put off by Left-wingers’ threats of mass demonstrations against him. Why don’t they aim their sanctimony at tyrannical regimes such as Iran, instead of directing it against our great democratic ally?
The upshot is that countries such as France, Germany, China and Japan – all of which have welcomed Mr Trump – stand to gain benefits Britain may now be denied.
This eccentric President is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea (though no one can gainsay his successes in such areas as tax reform). But the silent majority in Britain feel tremendous goodwill towards the country he represents.
The exhibitionists who insult him, putting self-promotion above jobs and the national interest, speak only for themselves.