It is a kind of madness that a thin deal or no deal is government policy. Labour has a choice to make, and fast
Envy is an unworthy emotion, and yet I feel it. It first struck on Monday, as Joe Biden announced his top tier of cabinet appointments, naming a team of calm, competent, deeply experienced lieutenants that will contrast sharply with Britain’s cabinet of all the talentless. The green-eyed demon struck again on Thursday as I watched Biden issue a series of Thanksgiving messages with a warmth and humanity alien to the man he will succeed. It’s clearer every day that in electing Biden and rejecting Donald Trump, Americans are moving to undo the great error they made in 2016. I envy that – because we are still stuck with ours.
Of course Trumpism will live on in some form, but in January 2021 Americans will formally conclude the chapter that opened with Trump’s victory four years ago. In the same month, we will start our Brexit story in earnest, leaving the European Union not just in name but in practice. As America’s encounter with the reality of 2016-vintage populist nationalism ends, so ours will begin.
