The United States Supreme Court has delivered a series of rulings that both constrain and empower Donald Trump, leaving British constitutional scholars baffled and alarmed. In a decision that will impact working families on both sides of the Atlantic, the court yesterday struck down Trump's attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, a move that would have ripped 700,000 young migrants from their jobs and homes. But in the same breath, the justices ruled that the president has broad immunity from prosecution for official acts – a judgment that critics say places him above the law.
For those of us who write about the real economy, this is not an abstract legal debate. It is about power: who holds it, who checks it, and how ordinary people pay the price when the rules change. The DACA decision means that young people who have known no other home can continue to work, pay taxes, and contribute to their communities. That is good for the labour market and for families. But the immunity ruling creates a dangerous precedent. If a president can act without fear of criminal consequences where does that leave workers who blow the whistle on corporate malfeasance? Or unions that challenge executive orders? The rule of law is the bedrock of a fair economy. When that bedrock cracks the weakest among us feel the tremor first.
British observers have watched with growing concern as the American constitutional order bends under political strain. Sir John Major, the former prime minister, warned last year that the UK must not follow the US down the path of “presidentialism”. Our unwritten constitution, with its centuries of conventions and checks, relies on restraint. But if the world's most powerful democracy can grant its leader near-absolute immunity what message does that send to autocrats everywhere? And what does it mean for the international labour rights that British unions have fought to embed in trade deals?
Back home, the cost of living crisis continues to bite. Food prices rose again this month. Energy bills are still a third higher than before the pandemic. And wage growth lags behind inflation for the lowest paid. The Supreme Court's rulings may feel distant and transatlantic. But when the world's superpower signals that its leader can act with impunity it emboldens those here who think they too can ignore the rules – whether it is a landlord illegally evicting tenants or an employer flouting minimum wage laws.
Regional inequality deepens as the economy stalls. The North loses out as investment flows south. In towns that once depended on steel and coal, families now rely on food banks. The political chaos in Washington does not help. It distracts from the urgent need for a fairer settlement: higher wages, secure work, and homes that people can afford to heat.
Unions are watching closely. The Trades Union Congress has long called for a codified constitution for the UK, arguing that our current system leaves workers vulnerable to sudden changes in government policy. A president who can act with impunity is a reminder of what happens when power is unchecked. But there is a simpler lesson too: democracy must deliver for working people or it will lose its legitimacy.
As the sun sets on another day of constitutional drama across the pond, the question for Britain is this: will we learn from America's mistakes or repeat them? The answer matters less for the pundits than for the nurse in Manchester, the warehouse worker in Leicester, and the cleaner in Glasgow. They are the ones who will live with the consequences.
