DONALD TRUMP is going to be an enormous success for America. I base my prediction on three judgments:
1) The success of our Brexit vote. Remember it was five months ago we were told by Cameron and Co (where are they, by the way?) that disaster was coming if we voted Leave. And what happened?
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Unemployment down. Inflation down. Retail sales through the roof with the whole world either coming to shop here or find work. We could do with more disasters like that. So change is good, both here and in the US.
2) Having spent this week in New York, this nation is desperate for infrastructure spending, a major Trump promise. My God the country needs it.
I have strong views about my commuter line in Surrey but having travelled into Manhattan on the Long Island Rail Road every day, I would never criticise South West Trains again. Not a penny has been spent on new rolling stock in decades.
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It’s the same with their Subway (Tube system). Probably fabulous and unique when it opened in 1904, today it looks like a museum compared with London’s Jubilee line. It’s how the ordinary folk of New York make their way to work — they deserve better.
The road network from JFK to the Big Apple is a disgrace and in desperate need of repair. Where is the equivalent of the Heathrow-Paddington rail link from JFK to NYC?
Of course it will cost trillions and may not even be started before Donald Trump faces a fresh election, but somebody had to stand up and say get digging. That man was Trump. It was never going to be Hillary.
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3) I believe where the old liberal order has been dispatched it will give its people a new sense of hope and a fresh pride in their nationhood.
The EU took it away from the United Kingdom and the Clintons took it away from America. My bet is that the Dutch and French administrations will all fall over the next six months as they dismiss the voters’ concerns as simply being hostile to uncontrolled migration. That is true but it’s only half the story.
Ordinary people on both sides of the Atlantic want to be listened to and not patronised by politicians who have never lost a deal or closed a deal. Donald Trump hit a nerve when he said he would make America great again.
He may not achieve his lofty ambition but by putting a shovel in the ground it will be a first step. I wish him well.
I HAVE received a follow-up email from window cleaner Peter Bryant who sent me a moving email (Monday’s column) about his son George, who suffers with cystic fibrosis:
“Many thanks for printing my email about George. It made me cry. Thanks for being the voice of the silent.”
Flog Roo before he falls through transfer window
As a “finely-tuned” athlete, you can’t have a face and a shape like Wayne Rooney’s over the years without it being proof you enjoy the falling-over lotion.
His career-ending decision to go on the sherbet until 5AM, at The Grove hotel in Watford, gained the headlines but those that looked in wonder at his flabby jawline and his square physique always suspected the truth.
No Manchester United fan – or worse, sports journalist – could say that look came out of the gym. It actually defied a gym. When he was 21 he could get away with it. At 31, no chance.
Unable to hold down his position at England or United, it would be enough to drive anybody to drink. Rooney was already there.
He was never taken to task by his football pundit mates or subservient sports reporters, afraid presumably of being banned from a ground or missing out on an “in-depth” interview (don’t make me laugh) if they raised “fitness” issues.
As with most things, Sir Alex Ferguson was right. He knew Rooney had problems and was on the verge of selling him.
Instead, the dim-witted managers who followed Sir Alex sucked up to Rooney – as did the press – and got him a pay hike to a ludicrous £300,000-a-week and a contract until 2018.
Mourinho should flog Rooney in the January window – before he falls through it.
Delta’s well in control
Having been booted out of BA’s Belfast City lounge for no good reason (last Monday’s column) I decided for the first time ever to ditch our national carrier and fly Delta for a quick trip to New York.
What a good decision that was. The flight attendants were beyond helpful, the seats were great but the real winner came on the ground at JFK.
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Anybody who has ever gone through British Airway’s Terminal Seven will know the nightmare at passport control, where they view everybody as Bin Laden leading to massive queues taking hours to get to the other side. A nightmare.
Enter Delta at JFK’s Terminal Four. Instead of passport staff they have installed an entire hall of all-tech, self-service screens which match your security answers and face to your ESTA form and passport.
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It works a treat. All done in a minute. Yes, ONE minute. The plane landed at 3.50pm and I was through customs by 4.20. A miracle.
So my advice is to dump BA and switch to Delta on the London-JFK route until the screens are installed. Unless you enjoy spending half your holiday/business trip inside an airport terminal.
You don’t, do you?
Trust ’em to rip you off
At last I am no longer alone. For what seems like an eternity I have been banging on in the wilderness about shopping around for the best insurance and energy prices as loyalty is never rewarded.
Now I have a trusty ally in Matthew Parris, the former Conservative MP and now an excellent Times columnist.
He received a renewal for his home insurance costing an extra five per cent, but when he called up to find out why they had increased it they offered to cut it by half.
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He believes trusting customers are the victims and has gone to the Financial Ombudsman. Hallelujah.
Perhaps I could highlight what happened to column reader David Webster. David, from Immingham, Lincs, received a renewal for his RAC breakdown cover of £171, up from £146.22.
He hadn’t used them in three years and told the lady he was going to the AA for £99. She came back with £112. He stood his ground and she dropped it to £92.92.
Both the RAC and AA pull this trick. I reckon their running costs per customer are £20, so they have a lot of “flexibility”.
When you renew, tell them Kelvin said they are conspiring against loyal motorists and you want the price to be well below last year’s premium.
If they won’t do it, move on. Tell me how you get on.
Gaz has set the record straight, thank heavens
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In a message to his millions of followers, Gary Lineker assures them, and me, that he writes his own tweets despite my suspicious view that his use of the word dystopian indicated there might be another hand at work. Happy to put the record right.
Punnies
NOT KNOWN
Chippie in Treherbert, Rhondda Valley – Good Pie Mr Chips
Laundry in Kingsbridge, Devon – Three Sheets To The Wind
Manicurist in Chellaston, Derbys – Cuticle Pie
On a van in Manchester – Sex sells . . . unfortunately we sell coffee
Window cleaning company in Maidstone, Kent – Partners In Shine
Seen on a bricklayer’s van in Essex – Only Walls And Courses
Monumental masons in Cardigan, South Wales – Grave Concerns
On a pig transporter in Dereham, Norfolk – The boars are back in town
Ceramic tile shop in Chesterfield – Croc-a-Tile
Tanning salon in Scarborough, North Yorks – Scarbados
Barber’s in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria – Level Headed
Lingerie shop in San Luis, California – Fanny Wrappers (quite enough of that – Ed)
That lot will cheer you up on a wet November morning.
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