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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

May sends congratulations after shock US result - Politics live

American and British flags flying along the Mall in London.
American and British flags flying along the Mall in London. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

What will or should Donald Trump’s presidency mean for the UK? Here are three good articles that address this.

A single theme unifies these risks. Brexit is a giant shock to Britain’s place in the world. It will sever old links and require new ones to be forged. As some of its keenest proponents concede, this transition will bring painful costs. Most of all it demands lots of good will and flexibility on all sides. In so far as Mr Trump’s win means a meaner, more fractious, more volatile global order, it raises those costs and shrinks that space for compromise and consensus essential for a smooth Brexit.

Limiting the damage of a Trump presidency on a Brexiting Britain demands ambition and perspective from Mrs May. Her approach should be two-sided. First, build a new, closer alliance with Angela Merkel, not just on Brexit but on wider issues: the world economy, security, Russia and China. In Berlin and other European capitals officials complain that June’s referendum result has taken Britain’s mind off all other matters. The prime minister must not allow that to happen and instead work with Mrs Merkel as a bloc capable of countering Mr Trump’s worst traits.

Second, Mrs May should use Britain’s influence in America (which is significant, if not as much as Britons like to imagine) to attempt to moderate the new president, staying his hand when he does wrong and indulging his vanity when he does right. Mrs May already had her hands full with Brexit. Now, for Britain’s sake and that of the world, she must also deal with Mr Brexit himself.

A new politics is necessary, one with the seeds of dignity. We must find our way to a prosperity which gives people a greater sense of belonging; where communities have more autonomy to judge their own affairs, and where international cooperation is used to tackle the worst excesses of globalisation, including tax avoidance, human trafficking and illegal immigration.

So, too, do we need a new language of politics – one that refuses to pander to prejudice but recognises that what the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt calls the “moral octaves” which those on the left cannot hear. For example, imagine that there are concentric circles of loyalty – family, community, country - which are not just a comfort blanket in times of crises, but are hardwired into us as human beings.

From this perspective, overt displays of patriotism which may make liberals uncomfortable can in fact be harnessed, and used to reinforce positive values. Larry Summers, an academic and former adviser to Barack Obama, has called it “responsible nationalism” which “starts from the idea that the basic responsibility of government is to maximise the welfare of citizens, not to pursue some abstract concept of the global good”.

We cannot know in advance how protectionist the US is going to become. But we can know that Britain, as a trading nation wanting to buy and sell freely with the whole world, is likely to be a loser if protectionism really does become the flavour of the era.

At least the traditionally close relationship between our intelligence services and those of America can still be depended upon. But it is not going to be a comfortable or predictable ride.

Theresa May and Boris Johnson had better mean it when they say that post-Brexit Britain will have a great new partnership with our European friends and neighbours. We’re going to need it.

Tom Raines, a researcher at Chatham House, the foreign policy thinktank, has posted an interesting thread on Twitter about the implications of Donald Trump’s win for UK foreign policy.

He implicitly defends Theresa May’s decision not to express any reservations about Trump today. See point 6.

Farage says Britain now has a US president 'who likes our country and understands our post-Brexit values'

Nigel Farage, the outgoing Ukip leader, is spending the day at a “private event” in Barcelona with Alistair Campbell, among others. A Ukip spokesman said Farage would not be speaking to the press in Spain and was due to fly to Miami later in the day. But Farage has issued this statement.

Today, the establishment is in deep shock. Even more so than after Brexit.

What we are witnessing is the end of a period of big business and big politics controlling our lives.

Voters across the Western world want nation state democracy, proper border controls and to be in charge of their own lives.

I commend Donald Trump for the courage with which he has fought this campaign and I look forward to a closer relationship between the USA and the UK.

We now have a president who likes our country and understands our post-Brexit values.

Prepare for further political shocks in the years to come.

Nigel Farage speaking to the media outside the US presidential election night party at the US Embassy last night.
Nigel Farage speaking to the media outside the US presidential election night party at the US Embassy last night. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Conservative MP Andrew Percy, minister for the Northern powerhouse, described Trump’s victory as “a glorious moment for democracy.”

Speaking at an event organised by Marketing Lancashire at Burnley football club on Wednesday, Percy was revelling in the US election result, explaining:

We’ve just had this massive election and it’s great to see so many people have turned out to vote in what is the greatest democracy in the planet, just to see the enthusiasm with which people have gone to the polls.

Alex Salmond, the former Scottish first minister who has had dealings with Donald Trump because his administration approved plans for Trump’s golf course near Aberdeen, told Sky News that he was “deeply disappointed” by Trump’s election.

He said he hoped being president changed Trump. Trump could be “nice as ninepence” when he was getting his own way, Salmond said. But the electoral campaign showed what he could be like when he was facing opposition.

Government departments have form for using big news events, like the US presidential election, as cover for the release of potentially embarrassing information. And today, true to form, departments are releasing information about the ministers’ and special advisers’ meetings, gifts and hospitality.

I have not gone through the releases, but I will let you know if anything good crops up.

What May says about Trump compared with what Merkel says about Trump - Analysis

Theresa May, the prime minister, has recorded a clip for the broadcasters about Donald Trump’s election. She essentially just read out, with minor changes, the statement she issued earlier. (See 9.43am.) It was not an interview, but she did take one question on Trump.

The reporter asked May if she thought Trump was a fit person to be president, given what he said in the campaign about Muslims and about his plans. And would May be able to work with him? She replied:

Yes, I look forward to working with President-elect Trump. The American people have elected him as the next president of the United States. Britain and the United States share values of freedom and democracy and enterprise. And I look forward to building on the special relationship we have between our two countries to ensure the security and prosperity of our two nations in the future.

By contrast, when Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, commented on Trump’s election earlier today, she managed to combine an ostensibly friendly message of support with an implicit rebuke to Trump for the stance he took during the campaign on matters like equality, diversity and the rule of law (ie, not torturing people).

The contrast is quite striking: Merkel sent out a signal that she would be willing to challenge Trump in defence of some of the key values of European democracy; May didn’t.

That doesn’t mean May may doesn’t feel just as strongly about equality etc as Merkel. She most probably does. But she has evidently decided that is not in her or the UK’s interests to go public on these concerns at this stage. That is not particularly surprising, given the obsession successive British governments have had with maintaining close ties with Washington, but May could find that on this she is out of step with public opinion.

Theresa May.
Theresa May. Photograph: Sky News

The North East of Scotland is famous for its parochial newspaper headlines. Most journalists have heard the story about how the Aberdeen Journal covered the sinking of the Titanic under the headline “North-east man lost at sea”, even though recent research established that it never used those words and that this is just a journalist myth.

Anyway, myth or otherwise, the tradition continues. Here is the lead story on the Buchan Observer website. (I’m grateful to pandapaws BTL for the tip.)

Headline
Headline. Photograph: Buchan Observer

This is from Paul Nuttall, favourite in the Ukip leadership contest.

In a post on his blog Douglas Carswell, Ukip’s only MP, claims Donald Trump’s policy platform is much more centrist than people think. Carswell, who is much more liberal and pro-immigration than Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, says he thinks Trump could end up persuading Congress to adopt a New Deal-style, big government agenda.

Here’s an extract.

In his acceptance speech, the President-elect talked about new infrastructure spending, creating new jobs. That idea is reminiscent of the 1930s – in America, that is. It harks back to FDR’s New Deal.

Indeed, throughout the campaign, Trump has drawn policies from both left and right. He has taken protectionism from the Democrats, and a tougher stance on immigration from the Republicans. He has attacked political correctness, but, at the same time, ignored much of the socially conservative culture war. He has pledged to cut taxes, but not to cut welfare.

That might explain how Trump has managed to do what no other Republican presidential candidate has done since the 1980s: run the table across the so-called Rust Belt states.

The danger is that, having promised change, Trump’s presidency just brings more of the same. Borrowing to fund infrastructure and entitlements will come at a huge long-term cost. Statist stimulus doesn’t usually produce the kind of sustainable economic boom Trump has promised. At least, it didn’t for FDR. Or, for that matter, Obama.

But the irony is that, after years of gridlock between the President and Congress, it could be the man Democrats despise more than any other who enables bipartisanship. With Trump in the White House, Republicans in Congress may end up backing a big-government agenda similar to the one they have trenchantly opposed for much of the last eight years.

Here is is more reaction to Donald Trump’s victory from Labour figures.

From Clive Lewis, the shadow business secretary

From Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary

From Ian Austin MP

From Owen Smith, who challenged Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership in the summer

From Kevin Brennan MP

From Jon Lansman, founder of the pro-Corbyn group Momentum

From Brendan Cox, whose MP wife Jo was killed in the summer during the EU referendum

From Stella Creasy MP

One person with a claim to the title of the British Donald Trump is Nigel Farage (see 11.27am), but another is Lord Sugar, the former Labour peer (he is now independent) who stars in the British version of The Apprentice. The British version was modelled on the American version, which was hosted by Trump.

Sugar has been tweeting about his US counterpart.

Here is Paddy Ashdown, the former Lib Dem leader, on Donald Trump’s victory.

Nigel Farage, the outgoing Ukip leader, is the only senior British politician to have any sort of relationship with Donald Trump. He has spoken at a Trump rally and did little to hide his enthusiasm for the Republican candidate, even though, having criticised President Obama for intervening in the EU referendum, he tried to avoid explicitly endorsing Trump so as not to be accused of hypocrisy.

Farage is travelling to Spain today, but is due to head to the US later this week. Here are the tweets he was posting earlier today.

Updated

Archbishop of Canterbury says he is praying Trump gets given 'wisdom, insight and grace'

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, says that he is praying Donald Trump gets given “wisdom, insight and grace”.

Justin Welby.
Justin Welby. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, has put out a statement saying she hopes Donald Trump can change.

It’s not the result I wanted but we now have to hope that President Trump turns out to be a different man to candidate Trump.

Mr Trump tapped into the disaffection we are seeing across the world right now due to economic uncertainty. That’s not something we can ignore.

Those of us who believe open, western values are the best way to provide economic security for people now have to redouble our efforts to show they deliver for people.

May's policy adviser says Trump's election shows Western economies face 'genuine crisis of legitimacy'

The Conservative MP George Freeman is chair of Theresa May’s policy board. He has set out his thoughts on Donald Trump’s victory in a series of tweets.

He says Trump’s election shows Western economies face a “genuine crisis of legitimacy”.

UPDATE: In the comments Ballyboleyman says Freeman is wrong to say that it was low-income voters who put Trump into the White House. He says the demographic breakdown of the exit poll figures, in this very detailed New York Times chart, shows Hillary Clinton ahead amongst low earners. Here is the key table.

US presidential voting by income
US presidential voting by income Photograph: NYT/New York Times

Updated

Carwyn Jones, the Labour first minster of Wales, has urged Donald Trump to “repair a divided nation”.

Boris Johnson, the Conservative foreign secretary (and a Brexit supporter during the EU referendum) has congratulated Donald Trump.

UPDATE: The Economist’s Jeremy Cliffe points out that Johnson wasn’t always so complimentary about Trump.

This is what Johnson said in December last year, after Trump said that there were places in London that were “so radicalised that police are afraid for their own lives”. Johnson was mayor of London at the time.

Donald Trump’s ill-informed comments are complete and utter nonsense ... Crime has been falling steadily in both London and New York - and the only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.

Updated

Kezia Dugdale, the Labour leader in Scotland, says Trump’s election is “a dark day for those of us who believe in compassion, tolerance and equality”.

And this is what she has tweeted.

Sturgeon says many feel 'a real sense of anxiety' about Trump's election

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s SNP first minister, has congratulated Donald Trump on his victory. But, in her statement, she says that she did not want him to win, and that people around the world will feel “a real sense of anxiety”.

While this is not the outcome I hoped for, it is the verdict of the American people and we must respect it. I congratulate president-elect Trump on winning the election.

We value our relationship with the United States and its people. The ties that bind Scotland and the US - of family, culture and business - are deep and longstanding and they will always endure.

It is normal in any election for those on the losing side to be feel disappointment, but today, many in America and across the world, will also feel a real sense of anxiety. I hope the president-elect will take the opportunity to reach out to those who felt marginalized by his campaign and make clear - in deeds as well as words - that he will be a president for everyone in modern, multicultural America.

Today must also be a moment for those who share progressive values - all of us who believe in tolerance and diversity - to speak up loudly and clearly for the values we hold dear.

I also want to pay tribute to Hillary Clinton. While I am personally disappointed that she will not be America’s first woman president, her candidacy represented a major step forward for women in America and across the world - for that, as well as for her many years of public service, she is owed a deep debt of gratitude.

Nicola Sturgeon.
Nicola Sturgeon. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Green party denounces Trump as 'racist'

The Green party has sent out an email with the headline: “Caroline Lucas responds to racist being elected US president”. But in her statement Lucas, the Green’s co-leader, does not actually use the word racist. She says:

This is a devastating day for women, for people of colour, for disabled people and for an inclusive society in the USA.

Trump’s election is also a hammer blow for the fight against climate change – and presents a genuine threat to some of the poorest people in the world who will suffer its effects worse.

But this is no time to mourn – instead we must organize like never before to keep our communities cohesive and our climate safe. On this dark day we extend the hand of friendship to people in the USA who wake up in fear – we know that you are not defined by the hatred espoused by your new president. But it’s at times like this when we need to unite, learn, resist and hope more than ever before. Today, in whatever ways we can, let’s light a candle rather than curse the darkness.

Caroline Lucas.
Caroline Lucas. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

Corbyn says US result shows economy 'isn't working for most people' but some Trump policies 'clearly wrong'

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has issued a statement about the US result. He says that many people will be “shocked” by Donald Trump’s election, but that it shows that for many people the economic status quo isn’t working.

Here is the statement in full.

Many in Britain and elsewhere will be understandably shocked by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, the rhetoric around it and what the election result means for the rest of the world, as well as America.

Trump’s election is an unmistakable rejection of a political establishment and an economic system that simply isn’t working for most people. It is one that has delivered escalating inequality and stagnating or falling living standards for the majority, both in the US and Britain.

This is a rejection of a failed economic consensus and a governing elite that has been seen not to have listened. And the public anger that has propelled Donald Trump to office has been reflected in political upheavals across the world.

But some of Trump’s answers to the big questions facing America, and the divisive rhetoric around them, are clearly wrong.

I have no doubt, however, that the decency and common sense of the American people will prevail, and we send our solidarity to a nation of migrants, innovators and democrats.

After this latest global wake up call, the need for a real alternative to a failed economic and political system could not be clearer.

That alternative must be based on working together, social justice and economic renewal, rather than sowing fear and division. And the solutions we offer have to improve the lives of everyone, not pit one group of people against another.

Americans have made their choice. The urgent necessity is now for us all to work across continents to tackle our common global challenges: to secure peace, take action on climate change and deliver economic prosperity and justice.

Jeremy Corbyn.
Jeremy Corbyn. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

Here is our business live blog, covering reaction to Donald Trump’s victory on the markets.

The FTSE 100 has recovered after an early slump.

Leanne Wood, the leader of the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, said in a statement that Donald Trump must now withdraw some of the “appalling” things he said during the campaign.

Now is the time for calm heads and winding down the rhetoric we have witnessed during the election. If Trump wants to do business with the rest of the world, he must row back on the appalling comments we saw throughout the campaign.

There is now a clear trend in Western democracies of anti-establishment rhetoric being falsely utilised by the wealthy and powerful as a route to power.

She also said that there was a parallel between Trump winning and people voting for Brexit in Wales.

Many people have been genuinely left behind or estranged by the economy and by politics. In both the United States and Wales, some of the areas which voted most strongly for Trump or for Brexit are those which lack the most opportunities.

The temptation now is for centre-left, socialist or progressive parties to write those people off. But we must not do so.

While our values of anti-racism and anti-sexism are not up for negotiation, we must still reach out to those people who are now attracted to right-wing populist parties or causes, because on issues like inequality of wealth, there is a clear case to answer.

Northern Ireland’s first minister, the DUP’s Arlene Foster, and her deputy first minister, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, have both congratulated Donald Trump.

Foster said:

I congratulate Donald Trump on his historic election as the 45th President of the United States of America.

We are a small region but we are fortunate to have strong historical, economic and political ties to the United States.

Northern Ireland has developed a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States and I look forward to working with Donald Trump’s administration to continue this.

As our largest inward investor the United States plays a massive role in our economic progress.

And McGuinness said:

I congratulate Donald Trump on his election victory.

I will work constructively with President Trump to maintain and strengthen our well established and deeply valued relationship with the United States.

Over many years successive US administrations have made a major contribution to both our peace process and economic development and I expect this to continue.

I commiserate with Hillary Clinton who showed unwavering commitment to the north of Ireland as secretary of state and first lady.

Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness.
Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Farron says never in his lifetime have liberal values been so under threat

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has issued a statement about the election of Donald Trump. Farron says never in his lifetime have liberal values been so under threat. Here is the statement in full.

Liberal values of moderation, freedom, respect for the rule of law, openness and concern for one another can no longer be taken for granted. In the United States last night, those values were defeated.

But those values are vital if we are to live together in peace, prosperity and freedom.

Those of us who care passionately for those liberal values need to fight for them, to win the arguments, to inspire new generations to the great and historic cause of liberalism. Never in my lifetime have those liberal values been so under threat, and never have they been more relevant and necessary.

There is nothing inevitable about the rise of nationalism, protectionism and division, Justin Trudeau proves that. I am determined that together, we must make it our mission to build that liberal cause. The alternatives are unthinkable.

Normally on a Wednesday we get PMQs, but the House of Commons is having a mini recess at the moment and so we won’t get Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn at the despatch box today.

May's statement welcoming Trump's election in full

Here is the full statement from Theresa May, the prime minister, issued by Number 10 Downing Street.

I would like to congratulate Donald Trump on being elected the next President of the United States, following a hard-fought campaign.

Britain and the United States have an enduring and special relationship based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.

We are, and will remain, strong and close partners on trade, security and defence.

I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead.

Theresa May with school children on the final day of her visit to India yesterday. She is now back in London.
Theresa May with school children on the final day of her visit to India yesterday. She is now back in London. Photograph: STRINGER/EPA

Theresa May congratulates Donald Trump

The Press Association has just snapped this.

Prime Minister Theresa May has congratulated Donald Trump and said Britain and the US “will remain strong and close partners”.

In retrospect it is probably a good thing that, when MPs debated a proposal to ban Donald Trump from the UK in January this year, they did not end up voting to keep out the man who has just been elected president of the United States.

It is worth reading the debate again (I covered it at length on the live blog here) to be reminded just what a shock to conventional politics today’s result is. It will have a profound impact on Britain, perhaps - if it signals a long-term shift in the character of Western democracy - even as great as Brexit.

Today I will be focusing on the UK political reaction. There has been little so far, because ministers and MPs are still trying to make sense of the result. Downing Street and the British foreign policy establishment have very few links with Trump and his campaign and Theresa May and her advisers will be trying to work out whether the next American president is the provocative, trigger-happy narcissist who campaigned for the job or the man who addressed the nation in New York this morning adopting a consensual tone and promising “to bind the wounds of division”.

Two issues are key. What does Trump’s election mean for the economy, and will it plunge America (and the world?) into recession? And what will it mean for security, and Nato? At least one respected commentator has said Trump’s victory could mean “the end of NATO, the end of the European Union and maybe the end of the liberal world order as we know it”.

May, and everyone else, will also want to know what this means for the UK/US ‘special relationship’, and for Brexit. Leaving the EU might look less attractive if Britain’s key transatlantic partnership has suddenly become more shaky.

But Trump’s election raises all sorts of other questions too. If an outsider roundly dismissed by elite opinion as an unelectable liability can become US president, is it really so wise to assume that Jeremy Corbyn can never become prime minister? Corbyn and Trump are in most respects completely unlike, but Trump’s triumph suggests that insurgency political campaigns founded on the message that neoliberal economics have failed to deliver for ordinary people have even more mileage in them than Kippers or Corbynites would have thought only 12 months ago. The American result will reinforce claims that opinion polls cannot be trusted. And it will also help to justify the assertion that the liberal media is out of touch with what real people think.

Our main coverage of the American result is being written up from our New York office. You can read our US election live blog here.

I don’t think there is going to be much other UK politics today but, if there is, I will give it a mention too.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.

Updated

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