One consequence of Donald Trump’s second presidency has been overlooked, but it’s no less insidious for that. As the 47th US president’s bombastic inauguration circus rolled into Washington seasoned commentators and observers seemed unsure how his second term would proceed.

Beyond the immediate executive orders to deport illegal immigrants and roll back the politics of gender identity, we know that promoting American trading hegemony through increased tariffs will shake the foundations of European neo-liberal economic dogma. But after that, it’s anyone’s guess. Though, I’d expect that Mr Trump’s belligerent attitude to protecting American trade may yet ultimately prove to be leverage in seeking an end to the war in the Ukraine and securing agreement amongst NATO countries for whatever diplomatic strategy he has in mind.

What’s entirely predictable though, is that four more years of President Donald Trump means four more years of virtue-signalling by the counterfeit left in Scotland and across the UK. They never tire of telling us how much they despise Mr Trump.

Secretly, though, they are exulting in it. Each new perceived Trumpian felony will be followed by a chorus of hissing and jeering by these reactionary progressives. In the absence of anything amounting to real social progress in Scotland they will issue hourly updates on their loathing of Mr Trump.

In Scotland, in the post Alex Salmond era the SNP has failed to deliver improvement in the lives of the country’s most economically marginalised communities in every sphere of their existence. The poorest areas in Scotland according to all the collected indexes of multiple deprivation remain unchanged in 18 years of SNP rule.

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