Nesrine Malik rightly points out that Donald Trump is not alone in using executive orders to summarily introduce sweeping changes to policies and the established processes of government (Trump 2.0 is exposing American exceptionalism for what it is – and has always been, 3 February).
Such actions are reminiscent of the divine right of kings used by many of our monarchs to promote their own power and interests. The impact of the election of Donald Trump has been to accelerate worldwide the process of demolishing the pre‑existing protocols and norms of democratic governance. Simply to rage against those events in the US and elsewhere is futile.
Those of us who cherish the traditional healthy challenge of political debate must call out those politicians in the UK who act as Donald Trump’s cheerleaders and amplify his reckless rhetoric, which risks stoking hatred, bigotry and violence in our communities. The gradual ascendancy of the notion of human rights and democratic processes helped the withering away of the divine right of kings. Similarly, our response to all of this must be to value and promote human rights and our own democratic processes, with all their inherent faults and anachronisms.
We must strengthen the checks and balances that protect us from tyranny and dictatorship, and support only those political leaders who respect human rights and maintain the highest standards of parliamentary democracy and public service.
Peter Riddle
Wirksworth, Derbyshire
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