Glorious isolation appears to be the destination for wannabe bully ‘Global Britain’

Soon after the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016 a campaign began to mint a special commemorative coin to celebrate the occasion, divisive as it was. After much foot-dragging, the then chancellor of the exchequer, Philip Hammond, acceded to the request, and a 50p coin was struck with the (arguably ungrammatical) legend “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations”. It hasn’t worked out quite like that.

Maybe this isn’t quite what the government means by “Global Britain” either, but Priti Patel’s new tit-for-tat approach to deportations risks making enemies of yet more countries that previously enjoyed cordial relations with the UK. Whether it makes much sense in terms of criminal justice, or in crude domestic party politics, the home secretary’s latest initiative isn’t going to win hearts, minds, diplomatic support and trade deals across the world. She wants to impose total and complete Trump-style bans on people from countries seeking entry to the UK from nations where the governments won’t do as she tells them and accept anyone she cares to send their way. It is difficult to comprehend a situation where, say, all Albanian, Indian or Jamaican citizens wishing to enter the UK are refused entry at Heathrow because their respective governments have refused entry to some random individual who hasn’t set foot in those countries since they were a toddler.