I am writing this column about seven hours before Mr Trump becomes the new President of the United States.

Most of the time, I have restricted my observations in this column to events that have a direct bearing on life in West Dorset, and most of the political events that occur thousands of miles away do not come into this category even if they are sufficiently significant to have indirect effects on West Dorset in the long term. But I have the feeling that the inauguration of Mr Trump as President of the United States may be a rare example of an event occurring thousands of miles away that could have a direct bearing on life in West Dorset.

The problem is that, just at the moment, we don’t know whether those effects, if they occur at all, will be good or bad.

It is a feature of the American political system that, unlike our own Parliamentary system, it can lead to someone becoming President of the United States who has absolutely no previous experience in politics – which is, of course, precisely what has happened in the case of Mr Trump. This is, indeed, one of the things that helped Mr Trump to get elected: he was regarded as an anti-politician, partly for the very reason that he had never been involved in politics, and this was seen as a major advantage by many Americans. But it is also part of what makes it very difficult to tell whether Mr Trump’s presidency will produce interesting and productive results for those of us on this side of the Atlantic, or very bad results, or no noticeable results at all. There has been an immense amount of speculation; but there is no real evidence upon which to base any confident prediction.

At a time when our nation faces significant uncertainties, another is now being added to the scene.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset