Gaza, girders ...but no golf: Keir Starmer meets Donald Trump in Scotland to talk steel tariffs deal and Middle East violence amid Cabinet rift

Daily Mail​

7 days ago

Keri Starmer sat down with Donald Trump in Scotland today as he tries to gain the president's backing for ending tariffs on UK steel and the humanitarian crisis being perpetuated by Israel in Gaza.
The Prime Minister travelled to one of Trump's Scottish golf courses amid a backdrop of issues both foreign and domestic to take up with the erratic world leader.
Security is tight at Turnberry in Ayeshire where they are discussing how to continue putting into place the US-UK trade deal they signed earlier this year, as well as the Middle East crisis.
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on Friday, Mr Trump said he and Sir Keir would be 'fine-tuning' the US-UK trade deal when they meet in Scotland.
But he downplayed the prospect on an agreement on steel, warning there was 'not a lot' of wiggle room on steel tariffs.
Sir Keir and the US President struck a trade agreement to reduce tariffs on car and aerospace imports, but questions remain over whether UK steel imports into America will face 50 per cent tariffs.
The PM's meeting with Mr Trump also comes amid growing global outrage at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, while peace talks between Hamas and Israel came to a standstill last week.
Some 255 MPs from nine parties have now signed a letter demanding the UK follow the lead of France and recognise a Palestinian state.
And reports suggest the row over whether to do this stretches all the way into the Cabinet.
But the PM's attempt to win over the president does not stretch to joining the golf-mad leader on the first tee. No 10 said there was no plan for the two men to play a round together.
White House special envoy Steve Witkoff blamed Hamas for a 'lack of desire' to reach an agreement in the Middle East.
Since then, Israel has promised military pauses in three populated areas of Gaza to allow designated UN convoys of aid to reach desperate Palestinians.
But the UK, which is joining efforts to airdrop aid into the enclave and evacuate children in need of medical assistance, has said that access to supplies must be 'urgently' widened.
Sir Keir is under increasing pressure from MPs and even his own ministers to recognise Palestinian statehood.
It comes after French President Emmanuel Macron said his country will do so in September.
Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents have signed a letter pressuring the Government to follow suit at a UN meeting next week.
The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs.
The US is the country 'with the leverage' to make a difference in the conflict in Gaza, the Business Secretary suggested this morning.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast ahead of Sir Keir's meeting with Mr Trump, Jonathan Reynolds said: 'Of course, Gaza will be on the agenda today.
'The intolerable scenes that we're seeing, the world is seeing, are the backdrop to that.
'And of course, the US has itself secured on two occasions ceasefires in the conflict, so they have been actively engaged in it, working with Egypt, the Qataris, and other key partners in the region.
'The US is the country I think we'd all recognise with the leverage here to really make a difference on both sides. So their role is fundamentally important.'
Mr Reynolds dismissed the idea that there is a split at the top of Government over when to recognise a Palestinian state.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among those to have signalled a desire for hastened action calling for recognition 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise'.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the Government wants to recognise a Palestinian state 'in contribution to a peace process'.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Mr Reynolds said: 'There's no split. The whole of the Labour Party, every Labour MP, was elected on a manifesto of recognition of a Palestinian state, and we all want it to happen.
'It is a case of when, not if.'
He added: 'It's about how we use this moment, because you can only do it once to have a meaningful breakthrough.'
Mr Reynolds also admitted there is 'more to do' on the US-UK trade deal, but played down the prospect of a fresh announcement later.
The Business Secretary said: 'We were very happy to announce the breakthrough that we had a few months ago in relation to sectors like automotive, aerospace, which are really important to the UK economy.
'But we always said it was job saved, but it wasn't job done. There's more to do.
'The negotiations have been going on on a daily basis since then. There's a few issues to push a little bit further today.
'We won't perhaps have anything to announce a resolution of those talks.
'But there's some sectors that we still need to resolve, particularly around steel and aluminium, and there's the wider conversation about what the US calls its reciprocal tariffs.'
The US-UK agreement signed at the G7 summit last month slashed trade barriers on goods from both countries.
But tariffs for the steel industry, which is of key economic importance to the UK, were left to stand at 25 per cent rather than falling to zero as originally agreed.
Concerns had previously been raised that the sector could face a levy of up to 50 per cent - the US's global rate - unless a further agreement was made by July 9, when Mr Trump said he would start implementing import taxes on America's trading partners.
But that deadline has been and gone without any concrete update on the status of UK steel.
Sir Keir and Mr Trump are also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, which Downign Street said would include 'applying pressure' on Vladimir Putin to end the invasion.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday about his meeting with Sir Keir, Mr Trump said: 'We're meeting about a lot of things. We have our trade deal and it's been a great deal.
'It's good for us. It's good for them and good for us. I think the UK is very happy, they've been trying for 12 years to get it and they got it, and it's a great trade deal for both, works out very well.
'We'll be discussing that. I think we're going to be discussing a lot about Israel. They're very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen.
'He's doing a very good job, by the way.'
Mr Trump's private trip to the UK comes ahead of a planned state visit in September.