Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen
Lunchtime summary
Ed Miliband on the lessons progressives can learn from Trump
Afternoon summary
3.38pm GMT
Philip Hammond says China and the UK are enjoying a "golden era" and are taking their relationship to a new level pic.twitter.com/w7rSur3NuJ
3.23pm GMT
This is from the Sun’s Harry Cole.
No10 source: Trump "affirmed Special Relationship" Wants to "strengthen bilateral trade and investment." Be "honoured" to invite her to DC.
3.19pm GMT
This is from the Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy.
I gather President-elect invited Mrs May to visit as soon as possible - and sd it would be a great honour to welcome her to Washington
3.15pm GMT
Theresa May has spoken to Donald Trump. This is from ITV’s Chris Ship.
Prime Minister had her conversation with President elect @realDonaldTrump at 1:45pm UK time this afternoon
3.01pm GMT
It is worth noting that of the three lessons that Ed Miliband thinks progressives need to learn from Donald Trump (see 2.33pm), two are ones that Jeremy Corbyn has already embraced. Corbyn’s policy agenda is ambitious, not incremental, and he can credibly pose as an outsider. But he is not particularly comfortable championing nationalism or patriotism.
2.33pm GMT
Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, was on the World at One talking about Donald Trump. He expressed horror at Trump’s politics but, like Jeremy Corbyn yesterday, and Emily Thornberry this morning, he accepted that Trump won support because people were rightly fed up with the economic status quo.
Miliband said that he thought he had a “good analysis” of this problem when he was leader of the Labour party but that his solutions were obviously “not sufficiently convincing” (because he lost the general election).
I think there are deep lessons [from Brexit and Trump]. What are the lessons? First of all the economic lessons, because whatever you say about Trump and Brexit, they offer big solutions. I think they are false solutions, and we should not invent false gods of our own. But our solutions are too incremental and not big enough for the diagnosis of inequality and the problems that we see.
Secondly, being political insiders is a massive problem. Trump was the consumate outsider and I do think in a sense that got him permission to be heard. And I think we have to think very hard about how we don’t defend the existing, broken politics that people perceive, but actually want to change it.
We should certainly be saying neoliberalism has failed ... The current economic system does not work. It has accrued the gains to the top 1% and people have got squeezed and left out.
Having seen the referendum we have got, if at all possible, to see some change in relation to free movement.
The idea that we have shared values with a racist, misogynistic self-confessed groper beggars belief.
I think we should be deeply worried about the implications for many of the things that we care about: tackling climate change, he says it’s invented by the Chinese and it’s a hoax; dealing with problems in the Middle East, he says he’s going to recognise Jerusalem almost immediately [as the capital of Israel] with all kinds of implications that has for the Middle East peace process; his attitude to Russia.
1.45pm GMT
1.28pm GMT
Nicola Sturgeon has warned that legitimate concerns about economic alienation must never be allowed to give a veneer of respect to racism, misogyny and intolerance, in a strongly worded response to the election of Donald Trump.
Addressing the Holyrood chamber at FMQs, Sturgeon went further than her initial statement on Trump’s shock victory yesterday – in which she urged the president elect to prove that he can act for all US citizens regardless of race or background – declaring: “I’m not prepared to be a politician that maintains a diplomatic silence in the face of racism, misogyny or hatred of any kind.”
There is no doubt whatsoever that many people feel economically alienated, but we must never allow those legitimate concerns to give a veneer of respectability to racism, misogyny and intolerance.
1.23pm GMT
It has been a bumper autumn for political publishing. I am still ploughing through the EU referendum books, but here are three memoirs that have landed on my desk in recent weeks that are worth reading.
Speaking Out by Ed Balls: This is Ed Balls’ memoir of his time in politics. It is not an account of everything he did, and anyone hoping for an insider account of the Blair/Brown rivalry will be disappointed. Instead it is structured thematically and all the chapters focus on lessons learnt from his time as an adviser and a minister. Occasionally the anecdotes are a bit cheesy, but the book is exceptionally readable and anyone interested in learning about the craft of politics will find it riveting. Surprisingly, with his strong plea for a politics combining social justice with faith in the markets, Balls also emerges from the book sounding like the very last survivor of New Labour.
One of the important lessons I’ve learnt in politics over two decades is that it’s not only common for people to hold two seemingly contradictory opinions at the same time, but it also makes a good deal of sense.
So when I think of the conversations I’ve had with voters in recent years, I recall people ranting about the bankers and what they had done to the economy and how angry they were about it. But when asked, the same people would agree that banks are important for our economy and just want them to work better in the future, not to be permanently weakened. They know they matter for their savings and mortgages, and for small-business lending, and more widely for jobs and wealth creation in the economy.
From before 1997, it was my job to organise the annual Christmas party for Gordon [Brown] and his inner circle of political advisers in a Westminster restaurant or later in the Downing Street flat, sometimes the only time in the whole year where he’d stop and thank all of us collectively for the punishing and occasionally painful hours we put in.
As well as dinner and secret santa, and the handing out of presents from Gordon and Sarah, and from Sue Nye - usually lurid but fashionable ties - there were also certain customs that became established over the years, most sacred of all the singing of ‘Jerusalem’ (twice) complete with the elaborate acting-out of the lyrics - shooting arrows, wielding spears, and so on.
What have I learnt in my (almost) seventy years on this planet?
That life is short and one should make the most of it (although I expect most people my age have reached the same conclusion).
If that were to happen [Brexit leading to economic turmoil] the political consequences would be brutal. The millions of British voters who were lured by Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and others to vote for a sunny Brexit future will be enraged that their personal economic well-being has been damaged, and will demand different leadership in Westminster and possibly even a rethink of the decision to quit the EU in the first place ...
For a start, there should be an early general election, once Theresa May has published a full, detailed plan for the Brexit negotiations, so that voters are given an opportunity to express their approval, or otherwise, of what life outside the EU may actually look like. If the British people decide that they do not wish to grant the Conservative party a majority in that election, it will be up to other parties to try to form a government - possibly a government of national unity - whose sole purpose will be to steer the country through this unprecedented period of constitutional and economic turmoil by striking a better deal for Britain with the EU.
12.47pm GMT
Nigel Farage has claimed to be “the catalyst” for the rise of Donald Trump, referred to Barack Obama as a “creature”, and joked about Trump’s alleged sexual assaults on women, my colleague Peter Walker reports.
Related: Nigel Farage jokes about Trump's alleged sexual assaults
12.43pm GMT
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, has launched a very strong attack on Donald Trump in the Scottish parliament this afternoon. My colleague Libby Brooks will be filing more on this soon, but this is what she has tweeted.
On US election, Sturgeon says that Clinton's defeat 'tells us we are not as far down road to gender equality as we hoped we were' #FMQs
Sturgeon says, since Trump victory, there is more of an obligation on her generation than ever to stand up for progressive values #FMQs
Sturgeon on Trump: I never want to be the kind of politician who maintains a diplomatic silence in face of racism & misogyny #FMQs
12.20pm GMT
The women working for the Green party earn on average 1.45% more than the men. To mark equal pay day, the party has published its own gender pay gap figure. It is considerably better than the national average, which sees women earning on average 18.1% less than men. The party has 42 people working for it, either full-time or part-time.
Sarah Cope, the Greens’ spokesperson for women, said:
From this day until the end of the year women in the UK are effectively working for free because of the ongoing and unacceptable gap in pay between men and women. It is up to political parties to lead by example.
That’s why today the Green Party are releasing figures to show our gender pay ratio, making the pay that we give to men and women open for all. We call on other political parties to do the same and ensure that they are doing what they can to end the unequal treatment of women in work.
12.04pm GMT
Ephraim Mirvis, the chief rabbi, has told Radio 5 Live that Donald Trump is a racist.
Britain's @chiefrabbi tells @emmabarnett that he's "nervous" and "concerned" about the election of Donald Trump as US president pic.twitter.com/9vqsFtBzOD
11.53am GMT
Suzanne Evans, the former Ukip deputy chairman and a candidate in the leadership contest, has announced that she has withdrawn her application to be Ukip’s candidate in the Sleaford and North Hykeham byelection. In a Facebook post she says she is doing this because she has been told that, if she were selected as the byelection candidate, she would have to withdraw from the leadership contest.
The byelection is being held on Thursday 8 December. It was triggered by the resignation of the Conservative MP Stephen Phillips.
11.43am GMT
Ukip’s trade spokesman, William Dartmouth MEP, is calling for Nigel Farage to be made the next ambassador to Washington. Farage, the outgoing Ukip leader, spoke at a Trump rally during the election campaign and has a cordial relationship with the president-elect. Dartmouth said:
Nigel Farage already has good ties and a relationship with the US President-elect Donald Trump - much better than any one else in British public life. His appointment would materially assist the UK in getting a UK-USA trade agreement for the first time. We in the UK would then be “at the front of the queue”.
Nigel Farage’s appointment is clearly in the national interest. The alternative is some establishment Foreign Office “high flyer” with neither empathy nor understanding for the next US president and administration.
10.42am GMT
Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has given a brief interview to the BBC this morning about Donald Trump. He said that he was sure that Britain would have “a very constructive dialogue with the new American administration”. But he also signalled that he did not support Trump’s protectionist policies. Asked if he agreed with Trump’s plans to increase tariffs on Chinese imports to 45%, he replied:
Britain has always believed that the best way long-term to protect jobs and promote prosperity is free markets and free trade.
We believe that free trade and open markets are good for prosperity, good for the protection of jobs in this economy. But we do also recognise the concerns that there are around dumping and unfair practices, and it’s about getting the right balance in the global trading system so that we can have the benefits of open markets, while being properly and appropriately protected from unfair practices.
10.19am GMT
This is from the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent, James Landale.
Special relationship? Trump yet to call PMTM. But has spoken to leaders of Egypt Ireland Mexico Israel Turkey India Japan Australia & SK
10.09am GMT
The government should phase out level 2 apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds, the IPPR thinktank says in report today. There are 90,000 people doing these apprenticeships and the IPPR report says they are of limited use.
There is a particular problem with level 2 apprenticeships, which are not currently well designed to meet the needs of 16–18-year-olds: they are often very job specific, they do not include much off-the-job training, they only last one year, and – from next year – they will not be required to include a recognised qualification.
10.00am GMT
Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, was on the Today programme this morning talking about Donald Trump. She was asked about the statement that Jeremy Corbyn put out yesterday about Trump’s election and she said the vote showed that Americans recognised the need to change the system. But that did not mean she welcomed it, she said.
Here are two points that stood out.
Well - yes and no. I think it is right to say that there are too many people who feel that the political system doesn’t work on behalf of everyone. I think it’s right that there are hundreds of thousands of people who have now been energised in Britain by Jeremy Corbyn being leader of the Labour party. So I think that there are some similarities.
I think that it is quite clear that the values and principles that Jeremy Corbyn espouses are very different to those espoused by Trump.
I wonder what will happen in the next four or five years in the United States when you’ve had a presidential candidate who gets elected on the back of very simplistic promises, and whether he’s going to be able to put those policies into fruition and what the effect of that will be, because I suspect that it will show that simplistic solutions do not work.
What you need to be doing is things like investing in skills and jobs. And - to give him credit, I never thought I would hear myself say that - Donald Trump was talking about the importance of investing in jobs, investing in infrastructure, getting the economy going in all parts of the country, not just the main cities, and that’s right.
9.35am GMT
AT the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue Philip Hammond will be trying to persuade Chinese investors to invest in 13 projects in what’s called the northern powerhouse investment portfolio. Collectively they are worth more than £5bn. The details are set out here, in a Treasury news release.
Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, says this shows the UK is open for business.
Attracting trade and investment is the foundation of our strong economy, helping to create local jobs, build local businesses and contribute to our national wealth.
These real-time and market-ready projects will build on the successes of the northern owerhouse region, which has for centuries been a global hub of commerce, science, technology and innovation. Setting out opportunities like these show to Chinese investors, and to the world, that the UK remains open for business.
9.14am GMT
Parliament is in recess, there is very little UK politics in the diary, and most MPs are probably spending the day trying to work out what the election of Donald Trump as president means for America, for Britain and for the entire world. Their best starting point may well be the Guardian’s US elections 2016 live blog.
Related: US election 2016: protests against Trump break out across major cities – live
Theresa May has reaffirmed her commitment to maintaining the “golden era” in Britain’s relations with China as the government hosts talks aimed at boosting Beijing’s investment in the UK’s infrastructure.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is meeting a Chinese delegation headed by vice premier Ma Kai in London for the eighth UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue as ministers seek to underline that Britain remains “open for business” following the vote for Brexit.
I’m determined that as we leave the European Union, we build a truly global Britain that is open for business.
As we take the next step in this golden era of relations between the UK and China, I am excited about the opportunities for expanding trade and investment between our two countries.
The golden era in UK China relations continue to deepen. With our complementary bilateral trade ties, China and the UK remain natural partners and building on this relationship will form the cornerstone of this year’s dialogue.
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