I’ll not mention his real name, but let’s call him Ian. Ian is British, born in Essex, and married to Samantha, from Cheshire. Ian and Samantha both work in New York. Ian, as chance would have it, is a top executive in a large media empire run by a very well-known octogenarian Australian.

At Christmas, both sets of parents came to stay at their Manhattan apartment. On Christmas all four were given the same present, which they opened simultaneously, Ian discreetly filming on his phone. They were Christmas cards, containing an ultrasound scan of their first grandchild. They were met with the standard reaction – eyes popped, tears were shed and there was a chaotic descent into group hugging.

But there were more tears at the weekend when, because Ian’s mum has an Iranian passport, she was banned from visiting her son – and banned from seeing their first grandchild.

Trump and May hold hands outside the White House

The couple are British citizens, working in America – the kind of thing that, if talk is to be believed, will become ever more commonplace once a US/UK trade deal is in place – their lives suddenly dealt a hammer blow, for no other reason than the people of the United States have elected a baboon as President.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Now, our Foreign Secretary trumpets the fact that British citizens with dual nationality will not be subject to the President’s travel ban. That this great indignity heaped upon the people of seven seemingly arbitrarily selected nations is OK, because Britain has a get out of jail free card. Ian’s mum fled to Britain decades ago from persecution in her own country (she and her husband are both practitioners of the Baha’i faith, which if nothing else, further inhibits their jihadi tendencies), and now this.

It is only a few days since Theresa May addressed an audience of Republican politicians in Philadelphia and had the sheer audacity to tell them to “join hands as we pick up that mantle of leadership once more, to renew our Special Relationship and to recommit ourselves to the responsibility of leadership in the modern world”.

The world’s attention has perhaps never been more intently focused on the United States of America than it is now, and almost never more so on Britain. It is not looking for leadership. It is alternating between dread and laughter.

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Perhaps we must feel sorry for May. She knows she must secure a US/UK trade deal to salvage the dignity of Brexit, even if the Brexiteers’ lust for it is confirmation of their towering stupidity. If free trade is de facto a good thing, substituting a newly protectionist United States for the world’s largest free trade zone that is right on our doorstep is de facto a bad thing.

She would also not be the first British prime minister of recent times to decide that there is no price too high for the preservation of the transatlantic relationship. It is why, in a break with usual protocol, policemen with automatic weapons still guard Tony Blair’s front door.

On the global stage, Donald Trump, like Britain, is an entity now respected and admired only by right-wing extremists. If Theresa May imagines her country’s reputation can be restored via the friendly offices of an international joke, her own personal credibility will not last much longer.