If you meddle in the politics of someone else’s country, you had better be careful.
This is especially true in the United States, a nation of long memories, hard bargains and painful paybacks.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party rather publicly supported Kamala Harris, the loser in the presidential election. If they thought this wouldn’t harm relations with Donald Trump, they were extremely naive.
Mr Trump’s campaign accused Labour of ‘blatant foreign interference’. Then he won. Now Mr Trump is getting his own back by helping Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Sir Keir’s naive folly has given Mr Trump and his outriders, such as Elon Musk, a licence to intervene in British politics.
Sir Keir may also find that, while formal diplomatic relations continue, there will be a price to pay in trade talks and in how British ministers – including our Premier – are treated by the White House.
Sir Keir should have seen this coming.
People don’t like outsiders messing about in their internal affairs. And Mr Trump needs Sir Keir less than Sir Keir needs him.
British politicians of all parties would be wiser in future not to treat US elections as playgrounds. But it cuts both ways. Mr Trump may also find that he does himself lasting damage if he or his allies get involved too obviously over here.
As we have seen, Americans often have a poor understanding of how Britain works. And the USA is not the only proud, independent country on the planet.
We also like to make our own minds up.
There is probably no better way of souring the ancient alliance between the USA and the UK than poking our noses into each other’s politics.
When will police start earning their pay?
What exactly do police do all the time, and how can we make them perform their most basic task – of protecting us against crime?
Both questions arise as a result of extraordinary events in two prosperous and supposedly safe parts of the country, Cobham in Surrey and Wimbledon in London.
These places are not abandoned, lawless urban wastelands. Yet when thieves – not even bothering to disguise themselves – invaded shops there to steal costly goods, police initially did nothing at all.
The robbers, it is worth recording, swaggered confidently as they went about their thieving, leaving shop staff terrified.
There was plenty of evidence. But the two police forces involved did not want to know. Only after the shops’ owner made a major fuss on social media did they even turn up at the scene.
The officers involved admitted that it was only because boutique owner Paige Mengers went public that they stirred themselves.
A full investigation has now been launched. The plight of the shop staff, frightened and helpless, symbolises the whole episode. In a civilised, law-governed country, it is the wrongdoer who should be frightened and the peaceful citizen who should be confident.
A slow withdrawal by the police – first from preventing crime by foot patrols, now from pursuing the ever-increasing disorder which has followed this retreat – has left the good vulnerable and the bad far too strong.
There are many more police officers than there were in the days when crime was under control. They cost billions. It is time they earned what we pay them.