The Foreign Office was quick to offer its sympathies after a domestic rampage in Des Moines, Iowa left six dead. The suspected shooter, a 32-year-old man, turned the weapon on himself. Police have not named a motive.
But here is the uncomfortable truth. The UK can offer all the solidarity it likes. It changes nothing. American gun laws are a political third rail. Touching them means electoral death. The Second Amendment is a sacred cow. And the National Rifle Association? Still one of the most effective lobbying machines on Capitol Hill.
Westminster knows this game. We have our own political untouchables. The triple lock. The union. But the comparison ends there. The scale of US gun violence is grotesque. There have been 34 mass shootings in 2024 alone. That is more than the number of days so far this year. The Iowa deaths are just another case.
Yet the diplomatic dance continues. A statement from the Prime Minister's spokesman: 'Deeply saddened. Our hearts go out. We stand with the American people.' It is the language of the Lobby. Polished. Meaningless. Designed to signal care without demanding action.
What happens next? Nothing. The news cycle moves on. The bodies are buried. And in a few weeks, another town will be added to the grim tally. The UK embassy in Washington will send another note. Same script, different names.
The real story here is the emptiness of political ritual. The inability to confront a crisis that kills thousands a year. The UK cannot fix America's gun problem. But it can stop pretending that sorrow is a solution. The only thing that changes things is law. And that requires political will. Something in very short supply on both sides of the Atlantic.
