It is difficult to parody Donald Trump. More flop haired, more outspoken and more of a buffoon than our own Boris. Even by the standards of politicians, he appears to hold such a high opinion of himself that any criticism just bounces off. Worryingly, this is a combination that seems to be working and his popularity in the States seems to be growing by the day. This is a man who leaps to make racial stereotypes, suggests building a wall along the Mexican border and calls for a ban on Muslims entering America.

The FT’s Martin Wolf wrote a damning piece about him recently FT.comTrump which described him as " a promoter of paranoid fantasies, a xenophobe and an ignoramus" and compared him to a populist Latin American politician, or as a Berlusconi without either the charm or business acumen.

These are scarcely the qualities required for the Leader of the Free World. Fortunately, he has yet to secure the Republican Party nomination, yet alone win the race to the Whitehouse. We can only hope that Churchill was right when he supposed that Americans can be relied upon to do the right thing, but only once they have exhausted all other possibilities. In the meantime, an ill wind is building in the West.