The Remainers are choking on the sublime irony of it – the fact that thanks to Brexit, The Donald has gone soft on the UK with his tariffs.

On Liberation Day this week (only Trump could call imposing swinging taxes on the world a liberation) the President spoke scathingly about the EU’s trade policies before slapping a 20% tariff on it. But because Brexit has restored sovereign control over trade policy here – he wasn’t as hard on us.

It’s clear Trump hates Europe and had Starmer been able to drag us back into it the way he’s been gagging to for months – we’d have been hit with the same tariffs. But still, those bitter Remainiacs are spitting their bile and screaming that Brexit is the big evil when in fact it’s exactly what’s saved us from tariffs that would have 100% done for our economy.

The problem for Starmer now is that he’s got to do what, in the past, he’s proved genetically incapable of – he’s got to be politically smart. No knee jerk retaliations, no joining hands with Europe singing Kumbaya and bemoaning the Mad Man Trump. Publicly he needs to Zip it, while privately he negotiates a zero tariffs transatlantic trade deal with the President.

Which of course is what he should have been doing for the past nine months. But because he’s been so wedded to the EU and desperate to crawl back into its orbit he’s been blinded to the opportunities Stateside.

Trump has now offered up those opportunities on a plate. And it’s no small gift. In 2023, our exports to the US amounted to £187billion. The US exported £115billion worth of stuff here. That’s £300billion worth of trade, jobs, livelihoods. And what Trump is doing with the 10% tariff is basically saying to us: “OK, I’ve given you a break – it’s up to you what you do with it.”

But Starmer’s lack of political nous is already on show. He’s set a May deadline for a UK-US trade deal saying if it doesn’t happen, the UK will set tariffs of its own. And this kind of stupid tough talk is exactly what he shouldn’t be doing because starting a trade war with the US WILL destroy us.

He really just needs to shut up and let Europe do all the screaming and retaliating. Because if HE retaliates against Trump, Britain will end up paying 20% tariffs, not 10%. Yes, even at 10% these tariffs are going to hurt. But if Starmer plays his cards right it needn’t be for long. And he should already be working on ways to soften Reeves’ disastrous budget to make life easier for Brits while the tariffs apply.

It might sound crazy but for the first time since Labour came to power I see hope for the UK. Yes, the Remainiacs will refuse to see it but their obduracy and their blind devotion to the failing EU is what’s holding this country back.

The fact is Trump has been softer on us than the rest of the world in applying the lowest tariff available because he’s open to a free trade deal. And surely, as dim as they are, even Starmer or Reeves must see the huge advantages for Britain of a trade deal with the US? Surely even they must see the EU is a busted flush and hitching their wagon to Von der Layen and Co now is economic suicide.

The fact is Trump’s imposing his tariffs worldwide whatever we do or say (China’s is a whopping 34%) but at least now find ourselves in a position where, just a few months down the line, things could just start getting better for us. Even Trump’s haters must see that he’s just doing what he said he would – he’s putting America first.

Isn’t it time Starmer put Britain first because the reason his Government’s popularity is in the toilet is because he’s thrown support at other countries – but not Britain. Well, here’s his chance. For once he has the upper hand over the EU and he needs to use it. We haven’t escaped the tariffs but it would have been twice as bad had we’d still been in the EU. And it’ll be twice as good for us if we do the trade deal with Trump. And a deal won’t just save Britain – it’ll save Starmer!!!