Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States.
Furthermore, the Republican Party has control of the Senate and will almost certainly the also have control of the House of Representatives, meaning that Trump will, in general, be able to implement his policies unhindered by Congress.
There’s no doubt that from the moment that Trump becomes President in January, we’ll see changes.
Yes, he’ll reverse many of the more socially liberal decisions of the Biden administration, but his own agenda is big, ambitious, and will have an impact beyond the United States.
His pledge to detain illegal immigrants and undertake mass deportations, if carried out, may – at least we can hope – encourage British and European leaders, who are presently far too weak and scared to even talk about it, to follow suit.
Another flagship policy of Trump’s will certainly impact global trade and economies. He wants to impose across-the-board tariffs of 10 per cent to 20 per cent on all US imports (60 per cent on Chinese goods).
UK exports to the US are presently valued at an eye-watering £188.2billion, so this is highly likely to impact the UK economy.
"There’s no doubt that from the moment that Trump becomes President in January, we’ll see changes," says Henry Bolton
GETTY
Of less impact outside the US, The Donald also wants to pare back the US civil service, by 50,000 and to find $2trillion in budget cuts through an efficiency drive that it’s suggested Elon Musk may help lead.
Again, we can hope that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in particular pay close attention to the efficacy of Trump’s approach, rather than simply continue raising our taxes to throw increasing amounts of cash at the public sector – good money after bad.
Trump has also said he’ll end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Let’s see.
But what we should really be talking about is “what are the lessons for us in the UK?”. To my mind there are three extremely important take-aways for us from Trump’s victory.
Firstly, there is the pickle David Lammy finds himself in, second, there’s the incredulous response of the mainstream media and, third, a lesson that Conservative Party would be wise to heed.
That David Lammy, our Foreign Secretary, called the man who is to be the next President of our closest and most important friend and ally a “neo-Nazi sociopath” should be enough to make clear he’s very far from being suitable for the job of being Britain’s most senior diplomat.
Lammy’s stunningly bad judgement becomes particularly serious considering Trump’s intention to increase tariffs on all US imports, including those from the UK.
Lammy’s puerile behaviour may well have harmed our chances of arranging favoured conditions and safeguarding the UK’s interests.
I believe that Lammy should recognise the situation he’s placed his country in, should defer to UK’s best interests rather than his own, and do the honourable thing. He should resign. If he doesn’t, the Prime Minister should move him, but I’m not holding my breath.
It is also interesting that so many presenters and commentators – Emily Maitlis and Rory Stewart are two who come readily to mind – have gone into disbelieving meltdown over the election result.
Their stunned and rather angry reaction tells us much. They may kid themselves and try to fool us that they’re neutral and objective analysts, but in fact-they’re anything but.
These are the same people who have largely led the charge against conservative politicians both here and abroad.
They opposed Brexit.
They have vilified Johnson and Farage.
They have spent years condemning Trump and they have led the way in labelling patriotic Brits, concerned that our borders are insecure, our streets unsafe and our society riven by identity politics, as far-right extremists.
But now, even the most sceptical observer can see the truth, as the false cloak of objectivity has been thrown aside by Trump’s victory.
We now see these mainstream media personalities for what they are: left wing activists engaged not in informing public opinion, but in shaping it; not in providing transparency and objective information, but in propagating their own political ideology.
This is a serious accusation, because such activity is undemocratic and harms our democracy by shaping rather than informing your decision at the ballot box. It also encourages dishonesty amongst politicians.
These so-called mainstream media presenters and their colleagues in the United States are a very large part of the reason British and American politics and governance are in such a mess.
I would suggest to you that it is they, rather than the likes of Trump, who we should reject.
I have also to say “I told you so” to the Conservative Party here in the UK.
MORE FROM GBN MEMBERSHIP:
- 'Keir Starmer is in a colossal nightmare but Donald Trump's historic election result is best outcome for UK' - Howard Cox
- Donald Trump is going to do the one thing the EU and Starmer loathe - Ben Habib
- Trump is divisive, but when things are going wrong people don't trust a lightweight and the election proved that - Ann Widdecombe
I, along with many others, argued passionately that the Tory Reform Group – the liberals in the Conservative Party – were seriously out of touch and wrong when they insisted you can only win elections on the centre ground.
Well, their position brought about a historic election defeat for the Conservative Party.
On the other hand, Trump, and the Republicans, who would never tolerate such liberal subversion, have won the Grand Slam: The US Presidency, control of the Senate and almost certainly, the House of Representatives.
The lesson for British conservatives is that the Tory Reform Group is wrong, very wrong.
The British and American people are bound together by many things, and one of those things is a desire for a strong leader who puts their people first, protects the Nation’s interests and borders, and deals with the threats facing their country, including mass immigration.
What does Trump’s victory tell us here in the UK?
It tells us that if we want to make Britain Great again, we need two things: we need strong, truly conservative leadership that puts the United Kingdom and the British people first, and we need a truly objective and neutral media that informs, rather than shapes public opinions.
