Donald Trump said he would “love” to see a united Ireland in an extraordinary intervention into one of Britain’s most sensitive topics.

During a press conference with Micheal Martin, Ireland’s taoiseach, in Dublin, Mr Trump said that a united Ireland was inevitable and would be a “great thing”.

“Well, I don’t want ⁠to cause any problems, but I will tell you, I’d love to see it unified,” the US president told reporters.

Pointing to the taoiseach, Mr Trump added: “You’ve got the right man over here to get it moving. Now the UK will have something to say about it, obviously, but I think it would be a great thing. How can it be bad?”

His comments on Saturday risk reigniting calls for a so-called border poll on whether Northern Ireland should leave the United Kingdom and join the Republic.

Northern Ireland has remained part of the UK since the partition of Ireland more than a century ago, a status that was solidified after years of bloody conflict known as the Troubles.

The president’s comments put him at odds with Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, who said in August that a referendum on Irish unification was “off the table”.

Asked about Mr Trump’s remarks, Downing Street said there was no evidence a majority of people in Northern Ireland wanted unification.

Michael Deacon 
What if the far-Right start wearing the burka?

If we ban all face coverings except for religious ones, I fear I can guess what these masked anti-migrant protesters will do
The sight of masked men protesting against illegal immigration has struck terror into our political class. Which might perhaps help explain why councillors in Nottingham have decided to ban face coverings. There’s just one small catch.

A special exemption will be granted for “religious dress”. Which of course includes the burka.

Now, I do of course appreciate why our politicians might be reluctant to ban the burka. Understandably, they’re wary of upsetting what they invariably call “our communities”. All the same, this will make it somewhat difficult to tackle the mobs of masked men.

Because, if we ban all face coverings except the burka, the mobs of masked men might well start wearing the burka themselves.

Frankly, I suspect they’d revel in it. At every protest they’d gleefully taunt the police from behind the safety of their full-face veils. “Go on, coppers! Dare you to arrest us now we’re dressed like this! Be awful if ‘our communities’ saw you doing it, and misunderstood what was happening, wouldn’t it?”

And that’s not the only risk the police would face. Imagine if they saw what they took to be a mob of disguised far-Right thugs, then ripped their veils off – only to discover that they were in fact a group of actual Muslim women. At the very least, that could lead to a lot of sudden early retirements.

Then again, there could also be a grave downside for the protesters themselves. So before they embark on this seemingly ingenious wheeze, I strongly advise them to consider the following.

This week, the exhaustingly right-on Labour MP Stella Creasy tweeted a video of herself joyfully hailing a group of young Muslim women in the street. “These women,” gushed Ms Creasy, “are the future optometrists, lawyers, accountants, surgeons and leaders of our community and country.”

It so happened that more than half of these future career women had their faces fully covered except for the eyes. So let this be a warning to the mobs of masked men. If they start dressing in burkas, there’s a serious risk they’ll be followed everywhere they go by Britain’s most insufferable MP, gushing relentlessly at them about what a glorious symbol of diversity they are.

Is that really a risk they want to take?
Could Harry and Meghan launch a coup?

Another blow for Harry and Meghan. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the head of Uganda’s armed forces, has announced that his country is withdrawing from Harry’s Invictus Games, for fear that taking part might somehow displease our King. Even more remarkable, though, was the comment that this Ugandan general then made to a British newspaper.

“I have factions in the ministry of defence that support that Harry-Meghan nonsense,” he glowered. “I had to quash it straight away.”

“Factions”? What an extraordinary choice of word. Not least because Uganda has quite a history of military coups. So I hope there isn’t another one brewing, with these pro-Sussex factions plotting to topple the country’s president – and then install Harry and Meghan as Uganda’s new rulers.

An alarming thought. For one thing, our King might then feel obliged to offer these new rulers a state visit. “Delighted to meet you, Mr President… Mrs President…”

Still, when a Ugandan general declares that he’s “quashed” a faction, we can be confident that he’s done a thorough job of it.
Dildos for Africa

Samantha Niblett is at it again. The Labour MP for South Derbyshire first came to public notice earlier this year, when she announced her plans to encourage a nationwide “summer of sex”, and urged the Houses of Parliament to host an exhibition of dildos. But now, it would seem, her horizons have widened. She doesn’t just want to promote hot sex in Britain.

She also wants to promote it in the developing world.

That, at any rate, is all I can conclude from the fascinating written question she’s submitted to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Has the Foreign Secretary, she inquired, held discussions with the World Health Organisation about “pleasure-inclusive approaches” to “sexual and reproductive health”?

Disappointingly, however, a minister replied that Ed Miliband has “not yet engaged” with the WHO on that particular issue. In my view, this leaves Miss Niblett with no alternative.

She will simply have to bring hot sex to the Third World herself.

I for one cannot wait to see how she pursues this vital missionary work. Perhaps she will organise parcels of Goop vibrators and Ann Summers love eggs to be urgently distributed among the needy of Ethiopia. Or perhaps she will ask Richard Curtis and Sir Lenny Henry to set up a new charitable drive called Erotic Relief. “Just £2 a month will help a bored married couple in Somalia to host regular swingers’ parties, equipped with riding crops, nipple clamps and faux leather spanking paddles.”

Meanwhile, rumour has it that Miss Niblett has urged Sir Bob Geldof to launch something called Hand Aid. However I have no idea what this means, and I strongly suspect it’s not true.