PM’s Scots gift for President Trump

BRITAIN and the US can once again lead the world together after seizing a historic opportunity to ‘renew’ the special relationship, Theresa May will declare today.

On a trip to America, the Prime Minister will say Brexit and the election of Donald Trump have given the two countries a chance to ‘rediscover’ their confidence.

Highlighting the achievements of the US and Britain in the past, Mrs May will say rebuilding the special relationship is of huge importance to the entire world in ‘this new age’, adding: ‘We have the opportunity to lead, together, again.’

The comments will be seen as an attempt to rekindle the relationship that Margaret Thatcher had with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, when the pair were united by the Cold War.

On the two day-trip, Mrs May will become the first world leader to hold face-to-face talks with the new president.

She will say that defence and security cooperation between Britain and the US directly, and also through Nato, is vital in countering Islamic State and trying to end the carnage in Syria.

She is also expected to make the case for an ambitious trade deal, which could lead to great ‘prosperity’ for both countries. Mr Trump has said he wants to strike a deal quickly.

The Prime Minister – who has insisted she is prepared to be ‘frank’ with President Trump in areas where they disagree – will make her firmest bid yet to turn him into a close ally. In a speech to the annual congressional Republican Retreat in Philadelphia tonight, she will say: ‘The United Kingdom is by instinct and history a great, global nation that recognises its responsibilities to the world.

‘And as we end our membership of the European Union – as the British people voted with determination and quiet resolve to do last year – we have the opportunity to reassert our belief in a confident, sovereign and Global Britain, ready to build relationships with old friends and new allies alike.

‘So as we rediscover our confidence together, as you renew your nation just as we renew ours, we have the opportunity – indeed the responsibility – to renew the special relationship for this new age. We have the opportunity to lead, together, again.”

Mrs May, the first world leader to address the Republican event, will add: ‘The leadership provided by our two countries through the special relationship has done more than win wars and overcome adversity. It made the modern world.

‘The institutions upon which that world relies were so often conceived or inspired by our two nations working together. It is through our actions over many years, working together to defeat evil or to open up the world, that we have been able to fulfil the promise of those who first spoke of the special nature of the relationship between us.

‘The promise of freedom, liberty and the rights of man.’

Mr Trump – who called Nato ‘obsolete’ earlier this month, but has restated support for the military alliance in recent days – will address the conference after Mrs May. Officials said it was possible the two leaders could meet at the event. Mrs May will also hold meetings with key Republican leaders, expected to include House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan. Congress will have a vital role in approving any free trade deal struck between Britain and the US.

The PM will then travel from Philadelphia to Washington, where she is due to hold her first official meeting with Mr Trump in the White House tomorrow.

No 10 said they were due to hold ‘substantive discussions’. Officials said she will also have the opportunity to see the Churchill bust, which has been reinstated in the Oval Office after being placed elsewhere in the White House by Barack Obama.

The PM will also visit Arlington Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Arlington is the burial place of at least 15 members of the British military who died fighting alongside US forces. At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, the PM said she was pleased to meet Mr Trump ‘so early in his administration’.

She added: ‘That is a sign of the strength of the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America – a special relationship on which he and I intend to build.

Mrs May faced demands to confront the President on a string of different issues, ranging from the use of torture to food standards.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband told the PM to pressure the President – who is a global warming sceptic – to ‘abide by the terms of the Paris Agreement on climate change’.

Mrs May replied: ‘I would hope that all parties would continue to ensure that that climate change agreement is put into practice.’

The Prime Minister added: ‘We will be looking for a UK-US trade deal that improves trade between our two countries, that will bring prosperity and growth to this country and that will ensure that we can bring jobs to this country as well.

‘In doing that, we will put UK interests and UK values first.’

As we end our membership of the European Union we have the opportunity to reassert our belief in a confident, sovereign and global Britain... As you renew your nation ... we have the opportunity to renew the special relationship... we have the opportunity to lead, together, again What the Prime Minister will tell US Republicans in Philadelphia today