Bridget Phillipson was doing interview duty on behalf of the government this morning. As education secretary, she is not involved in trade policy and her message was much the same as Jonathan Reynolds’ when he was in the same broadcast studios yesterday. She said that the UK was “well-placed as a nation” to reach an economic deal with the US (which might lead to tariffs on the UK being reduced) and that talks were still underway.
Keir Starmer’s stragegy – which can be crudely but accurately described as sucking up to President Trump in the hope getting the best possible outcome for Britain – is supported by Labour MPs, and also by the Conservative party. At a press conference yesterday Kemi Badenoch said that the UK should definitely rule out retaliatory tariffs, instead of holding the option open, but otherwise she is backing Starmer on this issue. And the difference is slight because Starmer does not sound at all likely to deploy retaliatory tariffs anyway.
But others are urging Starmer to take a different approach. The Liberal Democrats have been urging the government to be much more robust with the US president, and today they are escalating that, saying Starmer should be forming a united front with the EU and Canada to fight Trump with retaliatory tariffs and other measures. In an overnight statement Calum Miller, Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson, said:
Despite weeks of refusing to criticise Donald Trump’s damaging behaviour, it’s now increasingly apparent that the government will not secure a carve out for the UK ahead of Trump’s global tariff war.
Trump has shown himself to be an unreliable partner on the economy. No one, not even the US’s oldest allies, are safe from the economic harm reaped by this White House.
We need to end this trade war as quickly as possible. That means working with our Canadian and European allies in a united front against Trump, including retaliatory tariffs where necessary – as well as negotiating a bespoke new customs union agreement with the EU to better protect British businesses.
Intriguingly, Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, and a journalist with extensive establisment contacts, says there are a lot of people in business and politics who agree with the Liberal Democrats on this. He explained why in a long post on social media last night. Here’s an extract.
Starmer has organised his military coalition of “willing” nations to defend Ukraine against Putin in the event of a peace deal. My conversations with senior government officials, business leaders and economists reveal a hunger for Starmer – or Canada’s Carney, or any elected leader of a sizeable democratic nation – to organise an “economic coalition of the willing”, to champion free trade against Trump and his tariffs.
The concept, half of which I have explained before, is to counter Trump’s bullying trade tactics – tomorrow’s announcement by him of tariffs on all imports to America – by threatening collectively to impose tariffs on America’s exports double or treble whatever his tariff rates turn out to be.
This in itself would terrify American manufacturers and farmers, if it was a collective threat by the UK, Canada, the EU, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Australia, inter alia.
Will this idea get any traction? Maybe not today, but at some point in the future it could take off. There is some evidence that No 10 is nervous about being seen as too accommodating to Trump. Yesterday, in a briefing so implausible no one took it seriously, Downing Street in effect sought to blame the king for Trump getting a state visit!
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: Kim Leadbeater holds a press conference about her assisted dying bill, which has finished its committee stage and is back in the Commons chamber later this month.
9.15am: Heathrow Airport CEO Thomas Woldbye gives evidence to the Commons transport committee about the electricity substation fire that closed the airport for a day.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
2.15pm; Lord Hermer, the attorney general, gives evidence to the joint committee on human rights.
2.30pm: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
an inspiring scene in a Richard Curtis drama, in practice it is never a good idea.
But yesterday YouGov published polling showing that in Britain, and in other major European countries, there is strong public support for the sort of retaliatory tariffs being proposed by the Liberal Democrats. (See 9.26am.) YouGov says 71% of Britons would support retaliatory tariffs, and only 11% would be opposed.
was saying yesterday.
NHS is at a record low and dissatisfaction is at its highest, with the deepest discontent about A&E, GP and dental care, Denis Campbell and Tobi Thomas report.
global story on this, and here is our overnight UK story, by Pippa Crerar, Heather Stewart and Richard Partington.
Bridget Phillipson was doing interview duty on behalf of the government this morning. As education secretary, she is not involved in trade policy and her message was much the same as Jonathan Reynolds’ when he was in the same broadcast studios yesterday. She said that the UK was “well-placed as a nation” to reach an economic deal with the US (which might lead to tariffs on the UK being reduced) and that talks were still underway.
Keir Starmer’s stragegy – which can be crudely but accurately described as sucking up to President Trump in the hope getting the best possible outcome for Britain – is supported by Labour MPs, and also by the Conservative party. At a press conference yesterday Kemi Badenoch said that the UK should definitely rule out retaliatory tariffs, instead of holding the option open, but otherwise she is backing Starmer on this issue. And the difference is slight because Starmer does not sound at all likely to deploy retaliatory tariffs anyway.
But others are urging Starmer to take a different approach. The Liberal Democrats have been urging the government to be much more robust with the US president, and today they are escalating that, saying Starmer should be forming a united front with the EU and Canada to fight Trump with retaliatory tariffs and other measures. In an overnight statement Calum Miller, Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson, said:
Despite weeks of refusing to criticise Donald Trump’s damaging behaviour, it’s now increasingly apparent that the government will not secure a carve out for the UK ahead of Trump’s global tariff war.
Trump has shown himself to be an unreliable partner on the economy. No one, not even the US’s oldest allies, are safe from the economic harm reaped by this White House.
We need to end this trade war as quickly as possible. That means working with our Canadian and European allies in a united front against Trump, including retaliatory tariffs where necessary – as well as negotiating a bespoke new customs union agreement with the EU to better protect British businesses.
Intriguingly, Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, and a journalist with extensive establisment contacts, says there are a lot of people in business and politics who agree with the Liberal Democrats on this. He explained why in a long post on social media last night. Here’s an extract.
Starmer has organised his military coalition of “willing” nations to defend Ukraine against Putin in the event of a peace deal. My conversations with senior government officials, business leaders and economists reveal a hunger for Starmer – or Canada’s Carney, or any elected leader of a sizeable democratic nation – to organise an “economic coalition of the willing”, to champion free trade against Trump and his tariffs.
The concept, half of which I have explained before, is to counter Trump’s bullying trade tactics – tomorrow’s announcement by him of tariffs on all imports to America – by threatening collectively to impose tariffs on America’s exports double or treble whatever his tariff rates turn out to be.
This in itself would terrify American manufacturers and farmers, if it was a collective threat by the UK, Canada, the EU, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Australia, inter alia.
Will this idea get any traction? Maybe not today, but at some point in the future it could take off. There is some evidence that No 10 is nervous about being seen as too accommodating to Trump. Yesterday, in a briefing so implausible no one took it seriously, Downing Street in effect sought to blame the king for Trump getting a state visit!
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: Kim Leadbeater holds a press conference about her assisted dying bill, which has finished its committee stage and is back in the Commons chamber later this month.
9.15am: Heathrow Airport CEO Thomas Woldbye gives evidence to the Commons transport committee about the electricity substation fire that closed the airport for a day.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
2.15pm; Lord Hermer, the attorney general, gives evidence to the joint committee on human rights.
2.30pm: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Source: theguardian.com
