Special relationship is under great pressure - Alex Cole-Hamilton

Readers will remember the women of Greenham Common, who set up a peace camp during the 1980s - in large part due to the ambiguous status of the American nuclear weapons based there.

For a time, the US Government asserted that it could launch American nukes from British soil without so much as a by-your-leave from British government ministers.

The protesters argued, not unreasonably, that the US could trigger a retaliatory strike against the British Isles for a decision taken solely in Washington.

I don’t think the Greenham Common protesters saw the ‘special relationship’ as particularly special or even much of a relationship in those days. Happily, the intervening 40 years have proved far more equitable, but the first days of the Trump presidency have brought that relationship back into sharp focus.

We have been willing hosts of American firepower since the Second World War because of the alliance that exists between our nations. The idea of the American security ‘umbrella’ is baked into Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty which guarantees an armed response from all treaty signatories, including the US, should any NATO member country be attacked.

However, it’s not at all clear where we, or anyone else stands with the United States right now. President Trump has talked of annexing Canada and turning Gaza into a holiday resort.

Everything we thought we knew about the reach and motivation of American power is up in the air and it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s designed to shock or distract. But the idea that America would honour its Article 5 responsibilities right now feels more remote than ever before.

The astonishing revelation that US diplomats handed a contract to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, effectively demanding he sign away 50 per cent of the rights of Ukrainian rare earth minerals, should give us real pause.

As I write this, the US seem to be deciding terms for Ukrainian capitulation with Russian diplomats at talks to which Ukrainians are not even invited. That feels like a monstrous betrayal. Ukrainian bravery has united the West, through sanctions, military aid and a determination to home Ukrainian refugees.

My own experience of housing a Ukrainian guest for 9 months has steeled my support for the Ukrainian cause. Sending care parcels to her cousin, Sasha, on the Eastern Front reminded me that those brave soldiers are not just defending their own homeland, but they are acting as a firebreak to the free democracies of the West.

There is a point at which, in any friendship, you may have to tap your friend on the shoulder and quietly take them aside. It feels like we’ve reached that moment in our special relationship with America. Liberal Democrats believe that we have a moral obligation to stand up to Trump and challenge his view of the world. That will almost certainly necessitate a realignment, where we look closer to home, to our European partners for our future security alliances.

Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Western Constituency