The furore over Sir Kim Darroch's critical comments about Donald Trump have been polarised to such an extent that I haven't heard a sensible argument since the Mail on Sunday published his leaked missives. On one hand you have those saying that he in an embarrassment and has ruined the special relationship. Utter hyperbole. Then you have others saying that we shouldn't let Donald Trump dictate who our ambassador is and that Sir Kim should have stayed in post. The truth is somewhere in the middle. 

The following article is by Dr Timothy Tomkinson, a doctor currently working in the NHS. 

The other day I found myself watching Owen Jones on Good Morning Britain, as he discussed whether or not we should protest the visit of Donald Trump to the UK. By way of justification for this he mentioned, on this occasion and others, the fact that protesting is “a proud British tradition”.

At face value he is correct. Few people dispute the right to free assembly and free protest, and certainly it is perfectly reasonable to make one’s voice heard about an issue strongly felt. There are plenty of things to dislike about Donald Trump (as with many international leaders), but a there are three reasons we should feel some unease at this stance:

The following is a guest post by the Rev Dr Peter Mullen, Hon. Chaplain of The Freedom Association. 

When the whole world rises up and rails against you, cheer up! It probably means you’re doing something right.

This morning every organ from The Guardian to Hamas -whose spokesmen often seem interchangeable – to Russia Today, CNN, the EU and the EU’s spokesmen in this country who go by the name of the BBC, has condemned Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

But Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and the seat of government since 1948. This is a fact. All those agencies I mentioned above are news media. If dealing in facts is not their business, then pray what is?

The main news story this morning is the decision of the US authorities to impose a 220 per cent tariff on the imports of C-Series jets made by Bombardier in Northern Ireland. Bombardier is a major employer in Northern Ireland and 1,000 jobs are linked to the C-Series jet. This tariff has been imposed because Boeing complained that Bombardier gets unfair state subsidies from the UK and Canada. This tariff could triple the cost of the C-Series jet in the US, and you don't need a Ph.D to work out what that means: Bombardier will no longer be able to complete in the US market. This is protectionism, and protectionism always comes back to bite you when you least expect it.