Trump’s truths hit home in a UK political system stifled by spin

Wednesday 18th July

Last week we saw an outspoken, blonde-haired marmite politician telling the British people how we were getting Brexit wrong. No, not Boris Johnson but Donald Trump.

Many have already jumped to label the flying visit as a success, failure, or even disrespectful, but the key question is who benefits most from the trip?

It was an overall success for Mr Trump. He met the Queen, he grabbed the headlines and the much-touted blimp barely got airborne. The President is a man that likes to shape the news, so a trip under pomp and ceremony to the UK gave him what he wanted but it also gave him a chance to give us some lessons in shooting from the hip while still hitting the target.

Hot off his lecture to NATO on increasing members spending targets – a message that has many merits – he arrived at Chequers to tell the British media and the Prime Minister that Brexit negotiations were going the wrong way. He praised the Prime Minister and his Prime Minister in waiting, Boris. But all the outrage about his comments mask the fact that he speaks his mind, knows what he wants to say and knows that his base love him for it.

America is our most important ally. All our Prime Ministers past and present have known that. Just because Trump tells it like it is doesn’t mean he values our relationship any less, it’s just his style.

We would all benefit from a bit of straight talking from our own politicians – especially at this time. Lines to take, sticking to script and being boring is an art form in British politics but the Trump visit has highlighted the fact that maybe we have become too used to this form of communication. This is a major reason for such widespread political apathy.

Just look at the referendum campaign, where Boris was able to communicate in his own unique way and resonate with millions of voters. Trump has done the same in the US and brought it to our stage. For a moment the political world in the UK seemed slightly more alive, slightly more edgy and, dare I say it, slightly more honest.

In a week where the Prime Minister has backtracked on her Chequers agreement while claiming (again) that the deal had not changed; and where our former outspoken Foreign Secretary has kept his powder dry on Brexit disagreements in his rekindled Telegraph column, I can’t help but think that the British people would benefit more from hearing the reality than the varnished truth.

Love him or hate him, Trump came, and he conquered. He may not have won millions of fans across Britain but I bet there were a lot of people who deep down agreed with what he said. Of course, they can’t air such views publicly because it is not how we do things here.

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