To listen to John Kerry, the US secretary of state as he tours Europe after the Brexit vote, you might think that that the US was carefully hedging its bets when it comes to managing the fallout of the UK decision to leave, but you would only be half-right.

On one level, Washington is hedging, which is to say it is waiting – like everyone else – to see what happens next, first in London and then in the EU-UK negotiation that is going to follow.

For now Mr Kerry, speaking in Rome this morning, wants to emphasise “how important” the relationship of the EU is to the United States, but also pledges to maintain “close and special relations” with Britain.

But the layers of diplomatic fudge should not obscure the reality that a Britain outside Europe is fundamentally less useful to the United States than a Britain inside the European Union. The long-standing Anglo-Saxon interface with the EU is about to go dead.