Latest news with #DowningStreet
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
UK forging ahead with US trade talks, despite court block on Trump's tariffs
British officials are forging ahead in their trade talks with the US despite a recent court decision overturning many of Donald Trump's tariffs, and hope to have a deals covering cars, metals and aeroplane parts in place within weeks. A team of British negotiators spent much of last week in Washington talking to their American counterparts about how to implement the deal was signed earlier this month, including how quickly it can be passed by parliament and Congress. The talks come despite a ruling last week by a federal court overturning Trump's blanket 10% tariffs, which Downing Street believes will eventually be overruled by the president's allies on the supreme court. But on Thursday night, an appeals court paused the ruling while it looks more closely at the arguments – allowing Trump's administration to keep them in place. One government source said: 'Some countries are viewing the court ruling as an indication that they were right not to negotiate over tariffs. We're taking the opposite view, and trying to get this deal implemented as soon as possible.' A government spokesperson said: 'The UK was the first country to secure a deal with the US in a move that will protect British business and jobs across key sectors, from autos to steel. 'We are working to ensure that businesses can benefit from the deal as quickly as possible and will confirm next steps in due course.' The US president announced the US-UK trade deal earlier this month from the Oval Office, calling it 'very special for the UK and special for the United States'. Trump surprised Downing Street with the timing of his announcement, informing Keir Starmer just hours before he made it, with many of the finer details still to be ironed out. Under the terms of the agreement, for example, British car companies will be allowed to export 100,000 vehicles a year at a 10% tariff rate. But the deal does not set out how the Americans will view cars assembled in the UK with a considerable proportion of parts made in other countries, nor how parts themselves will be treated. While the details are being fleshed out, some British companies are being forced by their American customers to reduce their prices, while others say they are simply not exporting at all. Earlier this week, a federal court ruled many of Trump's tariffs were illegal, and that he should first have sought the approval of Congress. But while that ruling applied to the 10% rate Trump has applied to products from across the world, it did not apply to the higher 25% rate he has imposed on cars, steel and aluminium. Downing Street has decided to continue negotiating with the US as if the court ruling did not apply, not least because British officials believe it is likely to be struck out by the supreme court, which is dominated by conservatives. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion On Friday night, Trump unexpectedly announced he would be doubling foreign tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to 50%. It was not immediately clear how the announcement would affect the trade agreement negotiated earlier this month that saw tariffs on UK steel and aluminium reduced to zero. Last week, a UK team landed in Washington, including the prime minister's business adviser, Varun Chandra, the business department's head of trade relations, Kate Joseph, and the deputy national security adviser, Jonathan Black. Michael Ellam, the senior Cabinet Office official who played a major role in getting the deal signed, is now concentrating on the EU reset deal, one source said. The team spent much of last week talking to Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, and Brooke Rollins, the US agriculture secretary. Rollins has been pushing for the UK to open up to more US agricultural and food products, though Starmer has insisted he is not willing to reduce welfare and safety standards to do so. Officials are hoping car tariffs will be dropped in the next two weeks, while steel and aluminium ones could take a few weeks longer. They also believe the US will reduce tariffs on British-made aeroplane parts almost to zero, having promised to give the UK a 'significantly preferential outcome' when deciding tariffs on future products. Discussions about pharmaceutical products, which account for approximately £7bn worth of exports to the US, are still going on, however, given Trump has not yet said what tariffs he intends to impose on the sector. The talks with the US are continuing at the same time as officials get closer to a controversial £1.6bn trade deal with Gulf countries. The Guardian revealed on Friday that that deal contained no concrete provisions on human rights, modern slavery or the environment.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour's on the ropes and Starmer has no answers
This was the week in which Reform UK finally shattered the facade of indifference maintained by the British political establishment. It was only a year ago next week that Nigel Farage announced his return to frontline politics. As opinion polls show the upstarts leading all other parties by ever wider margins, a whiff of panic has permeated the Downing Street bunker. After its triumph over Labour and the Conservatives in the local elections and the Runcorn by-election at the start of this month, Reform has emerged as a threat to the SNP, which is defending its Holyrood seat in Hamilton next Thursday. What has brought about this sudden intensity of focus on a party that still has just five MPs in Westminster? There is no longer much doubt about Reform's ability to translate its popularity into electoral success. Labour's legions of backbenchers know that their chances of serving more than a single term depend on seeing off this unfamiliar challenge. Mr Farage is visibly morphing into a different kind of politician. The welfare and fiscal policies he has just espoused are to the Left of the Tories and, in some cases, of Labour too. Reform promises not only to restore benefits that Rachel Reeves has curtailed, such as the Winter Fuel Allowance, but to go further by removing the two-child benefit cap. This unaccustomed apparition of the Father Christmas of Clacton seems to have rattled the Prime Minister – so badly, indeed, that he turned up at St Helens on Merseyside this week to devote an entire speech to attacking Mr Farage. Sir Keir Starmer achieved nothing by this excursion apart from drawing attention to the Reform leader and his policies. Even worse, the Starmer counter-attack found itself bogged down in an unexpectedly fierce barrage of criticism from accompanying journalists, including even those who had been hitherto well-disposed. The irreverence, even hostility, of the PM's interrogation in St Helens signals a serious loss of prestige. After only a year in office, prime ministerial power is visibly ebbing away. Ironically, Sir Keir has identified the right problem: Nigel Farage and Reform really are an existential threat to Labour. But he has so far failed to come up with any plausible answers. The incoherence of the Government's policies – cutting disability benefits with one hand, while handing out big public sector pay rises with the other – is patently obvious. And the intellectual vacuity of Starmerism has just been highlighted by the absurd comparison of Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives with the Nazis by Lord Hermer, the Attorney General and Sir Keir's right-hand man. Next week the battle will shift further north to the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election for the Scottish Parliament. This has degenerated into a slanging match between the SNP and Reform, with the former accusing the latter of playing the race card, while the Labour vote is squeezed. Fresh from an appearance at a Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas, next week Mr Farage will be in Scotland and doubtless steal the show there too. If Reform were to capture Hamilton, it would be a bitter blow for the SNP: Winnie Ewing's victory there in 1967 first put them on the Westminster electoral map. Over the summer the Prime Minister hopes to regain momentum with public spending and strategic defence reviews. Yet neither of these worthy documents seems likely to deliver the relaunch that Labour sorely needs. The UK economy is struggling to generate any growth at all after the bloodletting of the Reeves Budget and the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs. Still living in denial, ministers will resist departmental cuts, thereby thwarting the boost in military investment required by the global threat level. Another spectre at the feast is the prospect of large-scale revolts over welfare reform. A growing number of Labour MPs are ready to risk the implosion of the Government rather than let down their favoured lobby groups. Labour and Reform could find themselves locked in an unedifying competition to bribe voters with their own money. The Conservatives now have an opportunity to recast themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility, national security and the work ethic. With millions living on out-of-work benefits, Kemi Badenoch could regain the initiative by showing how to bring people back into the workforce. With the country longing for strong leadership, Mrs Badenoch could well do a better job of taking on Mr Farage than Sir Keir has done so far.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Ministers consider tweaks to soften welfare cuts before key vote
Ministers are considering tweaks to soften their controversial welfare cuts before a crunch vote in parliament next month. The government is examining a potential change that could allow up to 200,000 people to keep their disability benefits by tweaking assessment rules. In March, Labour announced plans to save £5bn a year by overhauling the welfare system, including by cutting personal independence payments for disabled people. The proposals have alarmed many Labour MPs, with more than 100 signing a letter saying they cannot support them ahead of the vote. Ministers are looking at potential tweaks to mollify Labour backbenchers. The Financial Times reported that one of the changes being looked at is a tweak to the proposed Pip assessment rules so that individuals who receive a high overall score continue to be eligible, even if they do not receive at least four points in any category. A government source told the Guardian that this was 'an option they're considering', although sources in Downing Street and Whitehall denied it was on the table. Under the government's planned changes, claimants would not qualify for Pip unless they scored a minimum of four points on a single daily living activity. Assessments score the difficulty from zero to 12 that claimants face in a range of living activities such as preparing and eating food, communicating, washing and getting dressed. Another potential tweak could mean more time is given to claimants who lose access to one disability benefit to apply for other support they may be eligible for. The Times reported this week that benefit claimants could be given longer 'transitional periods' to ease the impact of losing support. Keir Starmer has been under pressure over his welfare cuts since they were blamed for Labour's poor local election results earlier this month. Ministers are looking at potential changes to the disability benefit cuts as a way of staving off a major backbench rebellion against them. Last week the prime minister announced a U-turn over the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, which is worth up to £300 a year and was scrapped from 10 million pensioners in one of the Labour government's first moves last July. At prime minister's questions last Wednesday, Starmer told the Commons he would ease the cut by changing the threshold to allow 'more pensioners' to qualify again. The government has yet to set out more details on what the change will mean, but Angela Rayner said last weekend that the payments would not be restored in their entirety. Nigel Farage has sought to outflank Labour on welfare by committing to fully reinstating winter fuel payments and scrapping the two-child benefit cap. Eluned Morgan, the Welsh first minister, urged the government to scrap the two-child benefit cap on Wednesday and said it was 'damaging for lots of families in Wales'. She has previously criticised the winter fuel cut. Starmer told a press conference on Thursday that he was looking at 'all options' to drive down child poverty when asked if he would like to get rid of the two-child benefit cap. 'One of the proudest things that the last Labour government did was to drive down child poverty, and that's why we've got a taskforce working on this,' he said. 'I think there are a number of components. There isn't a single bullet.'
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
U.K. flags new Indian market for Scottish salmon trade after FTA
The U.K. Government has flagged the unlocking of the Indian market for Scottish salmon following the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, finalised earlier this month and expected to be formally signed off in the coming weeks. Downing Street has this week been highlighting benefits of the India-U.K. FTA and other trade pacts struck in its wake with the U.S. and European Union (EU) in an effort to showcase the sectors and regions across the United Kingdom set to benefit. 'These trade deals deliver long term security for people in Scotland. They will create opportunities for more seamless trade and attract inward investment to grow the economy, making a difference to people's lives,' Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. 'These changes will be felt everywhere, whether it's lower food prices at the checkout, more choice for consumers and higher living standards that will improve livelihoods across Scotland,' he said. Downing Street noted that the FTA had 'unlocked a new salmon market through our deal with India, with tariffs dropping from 33% to 0%'. 'Securing frictionless access to key markets such as the EU, along with expanding opportunities in India, is crucial to protect our producers from unnecessary barriers like tariffs and red tape,' said Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, the key representative of the sector. 'Ministers rightly recognise salmon as the jewel in the crown of our world-class produce and its vital role in the economy of coastal communities and across the U.K.,' he said. However, in Scotland, the spotlight remains on the whisky industry which is set to see tariffs for exports to India slashed significantly over the next decade following what the U.K. has dubbed as a 'landmark deal' — agreed on May 6 and expected to add an extra GBP 25.5 billion annually in the long run to the current two-way trade of GBP 41 billion. Under the pact, Scottish distillers will immediately see tariffs halved from 150% to 75% and eventually to just 40% over the next decade. U.K. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said, 'The three landmark deals secured this month with the U.S., India, and the EU have shown this government is serious about striking the deals that our businesses want and need. 'For Scottish businesses, these deals will mean stability and jobs protected as they seize new opportunities to sell to some of our biggest trading partners." "From our world-renowned whisky distilleries to our cutting-edge green energy sector, Scotland has so much to offer international markets... By securing better access to the European Union, United States and India, we're creating real opportunities for Scottish businesses to grow, supporting jobs in communities from the Highlands to the Borders,' added Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray. At the Indian end, leading Goa-based whisky producer John Distillers welcomed the India-U.K. FTA as a "significant step" towards strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. 'This may have a short-term impact on Indian products in India, however, we are confident about the quality of our products and believe we can rise to the challenge,' the makers of Paul John whisky said in a statement. 'We also hope that this deal will allow better ease of business for Indian products in the U.K.. It is crucial to ensure that both nations maintain a level playing field, safeguarding the interests of domestic industries and promoting fair competition,' it noted. Until further details of the FTA emerge, the Indian distiller said it plans to continue to 'build awareness and availability' of its portfolio in the U.K. Other industries boosted by the FTA include soft drinks and food that the UK government says will 'ramp up' Scotland's export economy.
North Wales Chronicle
5 days ago
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Military families ‘struggling' with their homes during VE Day celebrations
Liberal Democrat defence spokeswoman Helen Maguire described a 'scandal' in service family accommodation (SFA) and urged ministers to take 'concrete action to fix' homes. The Government logged 442 urgent repair requests for SFA in the week which began on May 5, the early May bank holiday when Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted a Downing Street party and the Red Arrows flew over London's Buckingham Palace to mark the 80th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day. Responding to a written question which Ms Maguire tabled this month, the Ministry of Defence revealed 64,258 urgent repairs for SFA had been made between January 2024 and April this year. Call-outs peaked in January 2024, with 5,921 urgent repairs for SFA, and 5,546 during the same month in 2025. 'For so many military families to be struggling over the 80th anniversary of VE Day – a week when they should have been able to celebrate and feel recognised by the nation for their service – is a scandal,' Ms Maguire told the PA news agency. 'This Government is more than happy to publicly celebrate our service personnel and veterans with a Downing Street party, but won't take concrete action to fix their homes. 'That's the ultimate hypocrisy. 'It's shocking that almost two-thirds of service personnel are still dissatisfied with the standard of maintenance for their housing.' The Government has unveiled plans to extend a 'decent homes standard' – the 'minimum standard' which social housing should meet – into the private rented sector. Lib Dem, Green Party and independent MPs and peers have called for the change to go further, to cover SFA. Ms Maguire, a former Royal Military Police captain, said: 'We desperately need to bring military housing up to the decent homes standard.' The Renters' Rights Bill faces further scrutiny in the House of Lords before it can become law. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: 'We're determined to deliver homes fit for our heroes and, for too long, military families have endured substandard housing. This Government is determined to fix that. 'Our deal to bring military homes back into public ownership is saving £600,000 of taxpayers' money each day, allowing us to start to fix deep-set problems in housing and support the development of high-quality new homes. 'Last month, the Defence Secretary announced a new consumer charter to drive up the standards of forces housing, and the forthcoming defence housing strategy will set out further plans to deliver a generational renewal of service family homes across the country.'
