Conversation

The invitation to Buckingham Palace has paid off and the UK has become the first country to get a coveted trade deal with the United States since Trump plunged the global economy into chaos. After Rachel Reeves came home empty handed from her trip to Washington DC last month, there had been fears that the UK would languish at the back of the line of countries queueing up before Trump – and to use the president’s words, “kissing my ass” – to try to secure concessions from the sweeping tariffs.