Team UK disunited in Brexit ball game

THERESA May must prepare for yet another crucial battle in her efforts to extract the country from the EU, weighed down by history, division and dissent.

As votes on trade and customs policy loom large on the horizon, the Prime Minister will be only too aware of the fate that awaited more than one of her Tory predecessors tasked with responsibility for relations with our European neighbours, as growing unrest from both within and outside her party only threatens to further destabilise the process.

At least a presidential “working visit” has provided a modicum of distraction from the more serious issues around the Government’s Brexit White Paper, though finding relief from the debate on the UK’s future prosperity in a giant balloon representation of a world leader in

a baby’s nappy is perhaps the most bizarre of departures from the conventional that invariably follow the American President wherever he goes.

But as Air Force One carried the Leader of the Free World away from another trail of sensational headlines, stirred up through sentiment more akin to hastily written social media posts than the measured guidance of high office, Britain must regather its composure and its focus.

Our place on the world stage - even one where podium positions appear less certain than ever - is at stake.

Can the Prime Minister really manage our expectations of success, and what should any “victory” represent?

She need only look at the lessons learned at another global event, where winning didn’t necessarily

mean coming out on top once the dust had settled.

The curtain that came down on the 2018 World Cup was far less iron-clad than might have been anticipated, and the host country, one not necessarily revered for its ability in achieving diplomatic consensus, emerged with an enhanced reputation.

Closer to home, England found a leader in Gareth Southgate who was able to overcome the history, division and dissent that had weighed down so many of those who had gone before, and devised a strategy that, while failing to deliver the ultimate prize, nevertheless succeeded in achieving a result that was progressive and acceptable.

Politics, sadly, is a very different ball game, with very little prospect of a united team for the electorate to get behind.