Britain will never embrace Trumpism – we’re better than that

Emily Sheffield claims in her article that a “ruling left-leaning ideology of progressive liberalism” has dominated our “elites” for many decades (“Now Britain must embrace Trumpism”, Tuesday 21 January).

It’s hard to reconcile that with the realities of the last 14 years here in the UK, where we have witnessed the wholesale transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest, with much of our infrastructure and public services collapsing for want of investment.

Both phenomena are a consequence of the neoliberalist economic agenda pursued by the Conservative Party since the Thatcher era – and never more enthusiastically than by Sheffield’s own brother-in-law, David Cameron.

It seems clear – to me, at any rate – that Sheffield is not really talking to ordinary people in this article. It seems instead a clarion cry to other rapacious ultra-capitalists, to embrace an ideology which ensures the further prosperity of the already obscenely rich. That it will be at the expense not just of the poorest, but of most of us, seems highly likely. Be that in economic terms, reduced quality of life or the degradation of our environment.

Like neoliberalism, I believe this new oligarchic order is unlikely to succeed in the UK, for the simple reason that we’re better than that.

Richard Curran

Address supplied

Sheffield advocates more Trumpian policies for Britain. As the daughter of a baronet and a viscountess, and the sister-in-law of Cameron, she may well think so.

As an ordinary and not well-connected or privileged person, I would like to say that Donald Trump appals me – and so do Sheffield’s views.

Have we not suffered enough to have just watched the orange megalomaniac re-enter the White House, with his band of billionaires and acolytes giving standing ovations to his every earth-destroying, arrogant and divisive declaration?

God forbid that Britain ever go down this gruesome and dangerous road.

Penny Little

Great Haseley, Oxfordshire

The new US president has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement and urged his country to “drill, baby, drill” (“UK leaders urged to ‘step up’ as Donald Trump takes US out of Paris climate deal”, Tuesday 21 January).

The boastful, self-congratulatory Trump might succeed in making the US great again, but he also seems set on making it internationally uncooperative and dirty.

Trading with Trump’s US may soon require the payment of tariffs, buying chlorinated chicken and antibiotic-fed beef, and might well damage our NHS. Do we really want to be closely associated with such an “ally”?

If there is a choice between closer ties with the US and EU, as seems inevitable, surely we should opt for our nearer, more ethical neighbour?

Susan Alexander

Frampton Cotterell, South Gloucestershire

International cooperation is essential to address the impending global disasters facing our planet (“Droughts across the West are getting worse – and scientists warn it’s not going to get any better”, Thursday 16 January).

Unrestrained carbon emissions and another worldwide virus epidemic are both probable futures, and scientists are already warning of the consequences.

So what does Trump do? Withdraws the United States from the two international forums addressing these very matters.

Given his obsession with immigration, what does Trump think people in areas suffering from the consequences of climate change will do when their homes become inhabitable? Does he think they will stay put and suffer through extreme heat, wildfires, wind and flooding?

No – they will be forced to move and put a strain on resources in wealthy countries that can shield themselves from climate change.

As one of the most heat-polluting countries per capita on the planet, the US is not going to be popular and not least blameworthy.

Dr David Rhodes

Wollaton, Nottingham

Less than 24 hours into his return to role as US president, Trump’s frenetic signing of numerous executive orders reveals his intent (“The most significant executive orders Trump signed on day one of his second US presidency term”, Tuesday 21 January).

His bombastic abrasiveness may well help to appease – or provide a momentary uplift to his homeland support. However, just as an inward-looking and self-promoting Brexit diminished the UK’s international standing, instead of raising it, then surely the same fate awaits America?

The hard-won international levers of “soft power” eroded by his wilful neglect will ultimately harm the US’s and, by default, its allies’ reputations and economies.

Viewed through the eyes of many an international observer in other democracies, Trump, in his second term, will surely Make America Grate Again.

Nigel Plevin

Ilminster, Somerset

The post-inauguration rally in Washington DC emulated the royal courts of yesteryear (”Confusion, revenge, and Proud Boys on the march: Inside the weirdest inauguration ever”, Tuesday 21 January).

The absolute monarch was centrally seated, dispensing justice and pardons at the stroke of a pen, his admiring courtiers – or, in this case, Republican supporters – signalling unalloyed approval.

Was this a resurrection of absolute monarchy? In a country that had fought so hard to get rid of domination by the forces of a distant king. It seems the quill has now been replaced by the Sharpie.

Ian Reid

Kilnwick, Yorkshire

A convict, failed insurrectionist and maker of demented, incoherent speeches riddled with lies and fantasy builds his appeal on the scapegoating of minorities, pretends to be a man of the people while cosying up to wealthy industrialists, cajoles into existence a cultish private militia, infiltrates the civil service, media and judiciary with his own people, and decides his country needs to expand into other people's lands…

But enough of the 1930s – how did the American election go?

Dr Stephen Riley

Bruton, Somerset

Israel is a small country, surrounded by enemies. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas has made any effort to build the economies of the areas placed under their administration by the Oslo Accords.

Antisemitic rhetoric spews from mosques, school rooms and media outlets. Palestinians are honoured and rewarded for attacking and killing Jews.

There is a solution to this unfortunate state of affairs. Palestinian leaders could shift their efforts from trying to destroy the world’s only Jewish state and begin building societies where Palestinians could become productive citizens.

That might eventually lead to the ideal solution – a Palestinian state coexisting, peacefully, with the nation-state of the Jews (“Everything we know about the Israel and Hamas ceasefire deal in Gaza”, Tuesday 21 January).

Toby F Block

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

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