OPINION - The Standard View: Mr Sunak goes to Washington – but he faces an uphill battle

The Prime Minister heads to Washington DC today for a two-day visit, during which he will meet President Joe Biden, members of Congress and business leaders.

The avowed aim of the trip is to strengthen economic ties with the United States, though that most sunlit of Brexiteer uplands, a free trade deal, is off the table. Nevertheless Rishi Sunak is high on ambition. He hopes to place US-UK economic “interoperability” on the same plane as defence and security while pushing for greater regulation surrounding artificial intelligence. He will raise concerns about American subsidies for clean energy production and find time to make the case that his Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, be made the next Nato Secretary General.

Yet political differences are never far below the surface. No doubt, relations between President and Prime Minister are closer than those enjoyed by either of Sunak’s two predecessors, something that can be attributed in large part to the Windsor Framework, which sought to address issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Still, ties between the two men can hardly be described as warm.

There is disappointment — largely confined to British photojournalists — that the Prime Minister will not throw the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game. But this remains an important visit with a serious purpose... to boost economic cooperation and reaffirm one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world.

Stand by flooded ally

Swans may have been captured gliding through downtown Nova Kahkovka and beavers wandering around Kherson, but make no mistake, the destruction of the dam on the Dnipro river threatens human life and ecological disaster.

The explosion that caused the Nova Kahkovka dam to burst has already submerged parts of Ukraine, with houses swept away in the torrent. Moreover, this is likely to precipitate a shortage of drinking water and devastate farmland. It will also affect military plans. As well as fighting a war of survival and launching a counter-offensive, Ukraine must now spend time and resources managing a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe.

Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed Vladimir Putin’s military for the attack, which Russia denies. Yet if it was not Russian forces, it is remarkable timing, coming just as the Ukrainians are ramping up major operations. Putin may want to demonstrate he still has ways of escalating his war. The West meanwhile must stand by our Ukrainian allies, as they fight for their liberty.

Come on you Irons

It is not every day that West Ham United play a major European final. Not since 1976 have they appeared in one, and fans must cast their minds back to 1965 for their last victory, in the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

But tonight, the Hammers have the chance to make history, when they face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final. They have had a disappointing league season, but a win tonight would make up for that. Come on you Irons.