Bernard Ingham: Maverick Trump shows us how to get tough with the EU

Curiously, I think the Devil was generally confounded and Trump proved himself to be the Muhammad Ali of politics: “I’m the greatest.” His brand of diplomacy has to be seen to be believed and leaves you trying to read the runes after his contradictions.

But I think it is reasonable to claim that Theresa May and Trump both recognise we are better working together defending democracy, resisting Russian interference, fighting terrorism and promoting free trade.

The Trump inflatable, complete with nappy, hardly got off the ground in Westminster, much to the distress of riflemen and archers. Left-wing protesters were more airborne in Scotland but succeeded only in getting a wave from the President at golf for complimenting him for being “below par”.

Our PM may still lag behind Trump in recognising the dangers of uncontrolled immigration, but he is clearly in the business of a free trade agreement when Britain is again an independent nation.

And there’s the rub. Thanks to Trump, the threat to Britain’s immediate future has been laid bare. Mrs May is in a fix.

Her greatest danger now is that the EU will accept unreservedly the recent White Paper on our future relationship. This would leave us, at least for a time, half in and half out of an undemocratic, protectionist and failing club, which the majority in this country want to leave.

Whatever the Government may say, this could also put a spanner in the negotiating works of a new Anglo-US trade agreement and other bilateral trade treaties.

If that happens, then Mrs May is done for. She will rend asunder not merely her party but the country and the betrayal, as many would see it, would invite Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn into No 10, always assuming Brexit has not destroyed his party too.

The best thing that could happen would be for Jean-Claude Junker and his negotiator, Michel Barnier, to reject our latest offer, whether in whole or part, and then for Mrs May to act on Trump’s negotiating advice and get tough.

Trump would be thrice blessed if he has persuaded her to tell these bureaucrats – and how I long to hear the words “Enough is enough. You only ever say ‘Non’. Well, I am now saying No. Either we get what the British people demand or you can whistle for our money, all £39bn of it”.

Consequently, Mrs May must either take his colourful negotiating advice – broadly speaking, pitch your demands high and play it rough – or be taken to the cleaners by the EU.

I fully accept that surrender to the EU is what perhaps half her Parliamentary party wants – and to which her Government is formally committed – but that route will lead to the slow, agonised death of our Parliamentary democracy.

To govern is to choose, as many politicians have put it.

And sooner or later – preferably sooner – Mrs May is going to have to choose between sticking by her White Paper, whether the EU rejects it or not, or rising to the defence of democracy that the referendum result demands.

Back home, Trump can assist this process by instructing his administration to start talks immediately on a trade treaty that identifies any obstacles that lie in our present stance towards Brexit.

He could go even further to endear himself to the majority of Brits by rallying the world to free trade agreements with the UK.

The big question is whether our PM has the guts to start negotiating with the EU à la Trump. She has a certain toughness or she would not still be in No 10 and a certain wiliness since only two Cabinet Ministers – David Davis and Boris Johnson – resigned after the Chequers endorsement of the White Paper.

Indeed, some conspiracy theorists think she is a carefully-camouflaged Machiavelli. They see the White Paper as an elaborate ploy to con Remainers into a sense of false security before she comes out with all her guns blazing against the confounded EU to cement her reputation as a real leader and perhaps save her skin.

Only events will prove whether President’s Trump incomparable visit to Britain was a catalyst for action. If he has had a liberalising effect on Vladimir Putin at their meeting in Helsinki, he will be hailed as the maverick genius of the diplomatic arts.