When Nigel met Donald - and the problem it causes Downing Street
Theresa May will not want to give the UKIP leader any more publicity by utilising his friendship with the US President-elect.
Tuesday 15 November 2016 07:14, UK
If there was a picture to sum up this year, the utterly unexpected, mental year 2016 has been surely it is Donald Trump meeting Nigel Farage days after he won the US presidency.
Brexit victory meets Trump politics.
I'm told that the UKIP leader and his team were in Trump Tower for more than four hours talking to campaign staff and spent an hour with the President-elect.
Most world leaders would be delighted to get , particularly so early on.
Speaking of the meeting, Mr Farage said: "It was a great honour to spend time with Donald Trump.
"He was relaxed, and full of good ideas. I'm confident he will be a good president.
"His support for the US-UK relationship is very strong. This is a man with whom we can do business."
And the suggestion made by the Farage delegation that the bust of Sir Winston Churchill be returned to the Oval Office apparently provoked a "positive reaction" from Mr Trump.
The new US President, I'm also told, joked with Mr Farage what he thought was bigger, the Brexit victory in the UK or his ascendancy to the White House.
It is clear the two get on, that the UKIP leader's backing and campaigning for candidate Trump has paid off.
This, of course, proposes a problem or at least a question for Downing Street.
Mr Farage is the only UK politician to know and have a good relationship with the most powerful politician in the world.
Mrs May's administration has been criticised for not reaching out to team Trump pre-election on the assumption Clinton would win.
Maybe a misjudgment at a time when Brexit Britain is trying to strike up trade deals, trying to get to the front of the queue.
Should the Prime Minister utilise Mr Farage, putting party differences aside if it is in the national interest?
Downing Street has made it clear, that isn't going to happen.
The Government will want to be in charge and they will be damned to give Nigel Farage any more credence or publicity.
But would that be what's best for Brexit Britain?
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