17 September, 2025
I can’t recall ever reading anything written in The Guardian by its brilliant columnist, Rafael Behr, with which I disagreed, and his piece in today’s edition, 17 September 2025, while Donald Trump is starting his second state visit to the UK, is no exception. He concludes it by saying that ‘He is old. Maybe a successor, empowered by a moderate Congress, will reverse the US republic’s slide into tyranny. It is possible. But is it the likeliest scenario in a country where political violence is being normalised at an alarming rate? What is the probability of an orderly transfer of power away from a ruling party that unites religious fundamentalists, white supremacists, wild-eyed tech-utopian oligarchs and opportunist kleptocrats who cast all opposition in shades of treason?
These are not people who humbly surrender power at the ballot box, or even run the risk of fair elections. They are not people on whose values and judgment Britain should be betting its future prosperity or national security.’