Why, unlike SNP, Tories and Labour, I wasn't prepared to be diplomatic about Donald Trump

When it became clear, late on Tuesday night that Kamala Harris was going to lose perhaps the most consequential presidential election of my lifetime to Donald Trump, I didn’t feel like being diplomatic.

My response on social media did not mirror the congratulatory remarks offered to Trump by Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch. I expressed what I really thought.

Trump’s second term is going to be devastating for us here in Scotland, with the reversal of progress on the climate agenda and the import tariffs that may be coming for Scottish whisky, salmon and more. But that is as nothing compared to what his presidency will mean for others.

UK politicians need to call out Donald Trump's many failings (Picture: Chip Somodevilla) | Getty Images

Refugees interred in detention camps

For those women who, due to the coming abortion bans, may end up bleeding to death in a hospital car park for want of access to reproductive health care that Trump has removed in his assault on women’s rights.

For the LGBT+ community and other minority groups who may see their rights eroded and their persecution legitimised. For refugees who may now be forcibly interred in detention camps and deported.

And perhaps most of all for the fighting men and women of Ukraine who may now see the vital supply of weaponry they need to win choked off as Trump capitulates to the will of his close friend Vladimir Putin.

Absolutely gutted

So, excuse me if I don’t feel inclined to dress this up in diplomatic niceties but I am absolutely gutted about this. You see, I’d felt so strongly about the election outcome, I took some leave during the parliamentary October recess to spend a week knocking on about 1,000 doors across Lackawanna county, Pennsylvania, getting out the vote for Kamala.

Hours after the result became apparent, my friend and colleague Ed Davey, the leader of the UK Lib Dems, used his platform at Prime Minister’s Questions to challenge Sir Keir Starmer to recognise the calamity that this election result represents and to hold the line on support for Ukraine with Trump. He urged the Prime Minister to fix our broken relationship with Europe because those ties of trade and security will become even more important in the years ahead. He was a lone voice of concern in that session and he didn’t get a satisfactory answer.

Alex Cole-Hamilton spent time on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania in support of Kamala Harris's bid to become US President | courtesy of Alex Cole-Hamilton

It’s clear in the early tone struck by the SNP, Labour and Conservatives that only the Liberal Democrats will openly challenge the Trump regime in our public discourse and that matters so much.

The idea of the special relationship between Britain and the US is a part of our national mythology. Over the course of two world wars, a bond of common endeavour and a recognition of our shared values has developed between our two nations from which we have benefited in trade, security and cultural exchange. That relationship is old enough and strong enough to withstand the measured criticism of political leaders.

Staying in Trump’s good books may appear to be the easiest course for most other parties, but there are moments in time when you have to call out the behaviours of a would-be ally. Liberal Democrats will never shy away from that obligation.

Alex Cole-Hamilton is leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrat and MSP for Edinburgh Western