Donald Trump gets a dose of Rotherham common sense on AI remarks

There may not be much that connects William Hague with Rotherham these days.

He lives on the Wales-England border, sits in the House of Lords, writes for The Times and is now Chancellor of Oxford University.

But every now and then, the former Tory leader and Foreign Secretary sounds like a man who hasn't entirely forgotten where he came from.

This week he gave Donald Trump a pretty devastating dose of South Yorkshire-style common sense.

Asked on Times Radio whether he was reassured by Trump's suggestion that the threat posed by artificial intelligence could be contained by having a "strong and smart (high IQ) President" such as himself in charge, Hague's answer was wonderfully blunt.

“No, not remotely.”

He went on to say that Trump's apparent belief that two of the great issues facing humanity - climate change and artificial intelligence — are a "hoax" was "very disturbing."

Hague added: "These are probably the two most important things in the entire century that are happening to us."

No fuss. No diplomatic language. Just: No. That's nonsense.

Perhaps there is still a bit of his native Greasbrough in him.

Hague, now 65, was born in Rotherham in 1961 and from the age of 11 attended Wath-upon-Dearne Comprehensive, where a politics teacher, Robert Godber, became an important influence on him.

He went on to become Conservative leader, Foreign Secretary and a life peer. He has also never been short of opinions on Trump.

He criticised Trump's handling of the North Korea crisis, opposed his decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal and backed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Since Trump's return to the White House, Hague has continued to criticise some of his actions.

And on AI, Hague has particular reason to take the subject seriously. In 2023 he warned that artificial intelligence should never be allowed near nuclear weapons or dangerous pathogens because of the potential consequences for humanity.

His latest broadside isn't simply a Tory grandee having a go at a president he dislikes.

It is Hague, a long-time observer of international affairs, looking at one of the biggest technological developments of our age and saying that dismissing its dangers as a hoax is simply not good enough.

Trump may have his “high IQ” president. Rotherham-born Hague is offering something rather less grandiose: common sense.