Mark Andrews: The Trump trade deal in a nutshell, Reform declares war on green energy, and a generation that thinks VE Day is something to do with Rishi Sunak

The US trade deal for beginners.

1. Donald Trump imposes eye-watering tariffs on British exports to the US, sending UK manufacturing into shockwaves of panic.

2. President Trump agrees to cut the aforementioned tariffs in exchange for a raft of concessions, including opening up the UK market to American beef farmers.

3. President Trump graciously allows our Prime Minister to call him 'Donald' on speaker phone.

The power of the Special Relationship.

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A survey by the armed forces' charity Ssafa finds that six in 10 members of so-called Generation Z don't know what VE Day is about, with a worrying number thinking it was something to do with Rishi Sunak or Tony Blair.

Now many will see this as an opportunity to put the boot into young people, but it's hardly their fault, it's simply a reflection of what they have been taught.

It's the people who are old enough to know better who should be held to account for nurturing a generation that knows everything about gender fluidity, and nothing about the thousands of brave young men who gave their lives for the freedom to indulge in this weirdness.

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A case in point is The Guardian's Zoe Williams who, two days before the 80th anniversary of VE Day, wrote: "For so many of us, hating our country, or certainly the flaws in its governance and behaviour, are what gets us out of bed in the morning."

I suspect that attitude is far from unique among people of her particular worldview. But would it really be a great loss if Zoe and her ilk decided to take an occasional lie-in?

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Meanwhile, basking in the afterglow of last week's electoral success, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has declared war on green energy.

“If you are thinking of investing in solar farms, battery storage systems, or trying to build pylons, think again," he wrote on X at the weekend. "We will fight you every step of the way."

Er, why?

I'm a moderate climate sceptic. I question the quasi-religious faith politicians like Ed Miliband place in science which is still in its infancy, and doubt very much that switching to solar and wind energy at breakneck speed will herald a new era of prosperity and growth. I know that real men drive big cars. And most of all, I am vehemently opposed to schools indoctrinating impressionable children with scare stories about global warming.

But isn't there a middle ground? Surely encouraging competition in the energy sector is a good thing, bringing down prices, and reducing dependence on imported oil and gas, particularly from unreliable countries that might hold us to ransom. If businessmen want to invest their own money in renewable energy, why use public funds to fight them? And if he feels this strongly, why did he did tell shareholders of his own property company, Quidnet Reit, how he increased profits by installing solar panels on the roofs of its buildings?

What we need is a balanced energy policy, one that makes full use of renewables, nuclear and fossil fuels, making a managed transition towards the former, while still using our own gas, coal and oil reserves - including shale gas - to keep prices sensible.

There's no need for a culture war.