Senior Tories are said to be divided after Prime Minister Theresa May chose not to use Ukip's Nigel Farage as a go-between with the US president-elect, Donald Trump.
According to several newspaper reports, several figures in the party believe Farage has a unique "in" with the property tycoon and should liaise with him for the government. Others, however, say there is "no need for Nigel".
Ukip's interim leader was the first UK politician to meet Trump after his election success last week, enjoying an hour-long tete-a-tete with the Republican president-elect at Trump Tower in Manhattan this weekend.
The PM was snubbed by Trump – intentionally or not – when he chose to speak to ten world leaders before her on the telephone after winning the election. After the meeting, Farage suggested the Republican's campaign team were unhappy with negative remarks made about their candidate during the election campaign by some of the UK Cabinet, says The Guardian.
While May has been careful not to criticise Trump since she became Prime Minister, as home secretary she called his campaign pledge to ban Muslims from entering the US "divisive, unhelpful and wrong".
Farage said the Cabinet would need to "mend some fences" with Trump's campaign team, if not with the president-elect himself.
"Some of his team had reservations about what members of the Cabinet have said during the election. Believe you me, his team are conscious of the comments," he said.
According to the Daily Telegraph, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox was last week forbidden to consult Farage before flying to the US – the Ukip politician said this was because the government "resent" him.
The Times says Farage is dividing senior Tories, with a prominent Tory donor, Edi Truell, and a Tory peer, Lord Marland, both calling on the Prime Minister to "deploy Mr Farage in the diplomatic effort".
According to the Guardian, a "senior former Cabinet minister" said: "Frankly, given what the political establishment have said about Trump, any help Nigel Farage is able to give Great Britain with the incoming administration should be welcomed."
But Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, told the BBC there was "no need for Nigel".
He said: "There is fantastic opportunity for a relationship between Britain and the United States. There's no need for Nigel. The Prime Minister has been very reserved and wise in having been guarded in her comments about Donald Trump, right from the beginning, unlike many.”
