“Labour needs to pick up the pace with Brussels or risk being punished by an electorate still feeling the cost of living squeeze at the next election.”

Sir Kim Darroch, who was British ambassador to the United States during Trump’s first term in office, said: “President Trump’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been deeply inconsistent. He has at times threatened stronger sanctions on Putin’s Russia, but at other times appeared to blame Ukraine and pressed them to capitulate.