Donald Trump left Britain, beaming. Brian Taylor says it’s time now to try to put a smile on the face of our struggling people.

Let me open with a quotation. It is this. “For many, the economy feels stuck.” Just who said that, do you reckon?

Was it perhaps an Opposition leader? A media pundit? Or an eager researcher from the Institute for Fiscal Studies?

No, this particular bon mot was delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.

Extraordinary, when you think about it. The occupants of Number 11 Downing Street generally pursue a Panglossian view of the world. Talking up Britain, you understand.

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But these are utterly disquieting times. The age of anxiety. Folk feel worried, fretful, helpless. They fear for their families and the future. They are in no mood for platitudes.

In addition, they distrust institutional politics. They see little evidence that democratic structures have the solutions to help them.

That has manifold consequences. One is that simplistic answers and easy targets are given credence. Hence the surge in anti-immigrant rhetoric and demonstrations.

Let me stress that it is legitimate to question the impact of immigration on our society. We cannot have completely open borders. Limits and rules there must be.

However, the growth of anti-immigrant sentiment does not arise solely from a number count. It arises, largely, because those reflecting concerns are themselves beset by inchoate fear and anxiety.

A second consequence of this........

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