May courting Trump will misfire

As John Bew wrote, there is a serious "danger of overestimating" the UK`s "importance as a moderating influence" on Trump (Politics, 3rd February, 2017). It will not be long before America`s misogynistic and racist president tires of being criticised by a country which sells arms to the Saudis to use against Yemen, whose record of helping refugees is limited, which is fast becoming one of the world`s biggest tax havens, and whose leader incredulously claims that it "recognises its responsibilities to the world"!

       Bew, however, does rather miss the point when writing that, on the "prospect of a US-UK trade deal", May had an "easier brief", when visiting the White House. There is no way that such a deal will not involve the use of secret courts by America`s biggest companies to overturn other countries` laws that hinder profits, in the ways both that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) threatened, and that tobacco firm Philip Morris challenged plain cigarette packaging in Australia. Ally this with the danger US healthcare companies pose to an underfunded NHS, and the fuss caused by an over-hasty invitation for a state visit, and a US trade deal looks increasingly toxic.

       May might well be renowned for the "care with which she chooses her words", and the "deep thought" going into her "every next step", but her rush to visit Trump looks likely to backfire in so many ways.