Theresa May doubles down on Farage’s diplomatic offer

Nigel Farage is once again a thorn in the Prime Minister’s side. After Downing Street dismissed the interim Ukip leader’s offer to help May forge a relationship with Donald Trump, they were left red-faced over the weekend when Farage became the first British politician to meet the president-elect since his victory.

Now the Prime Minister is under pressure to rethink her approach to both Farage and Trump. Yet rather than perform a u-turn, she has issued a fresh rejection of Farage’s offer of help. At today’s lobby briefing, when asked whether May would now consider accepting Farage’s help, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said Trump had told May he looked forward to enjoying the same close relationship that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher had — and that they didn’t remember there being ‘a third person in that relationship’. The spokesman then went further, claiming there was no need for the government to even talk to Farage about his meeting with Trump as it was already in the papers.