After a weekend in which Donald Trump’s prospects of securing the White House increased dramatically, Labour’s appointment of Fiona Hill as one of three advisers to oversee its strategic defence review appears particularly timely.
It is not that the appointment of the 58-year-old would gain the new government any favour with the Republican – the former White House Russia adviser from County Durham ended up giving evidence in Trump’s first impeachment trial, calmly delivering evidence in a brogue immediately recognisable to Britons.