‘Good chance’ of UK-US trade deal with Trump administration, says JD Vance – UK politics live | Politics
JD Vance: 'good chance' of UK-US trade agreement with Trump administration
JD Vance has said the US is optimistic it can negotiate a “great” trade deal with the UK.
In an interview with online outlet Unherd, the US vice president told Sohrab Ahmari:
We’re certainly working very hard with Keir Starmer’s government. The president really loves the UK. He loved the queen. He admires and loves the king. It is a very important relationship. And he’s a businessman and has a number of important business relationships in [the UK].
But I think it’s much deeper than that. There’s a real cultural affinity. And of course, fundamentally America is an Anglo country. I think there’s a good chance that, yes, we’ll come to a great agreement that’s in the best interest of both countries.
The comments come just weeks after the Trump administration imposed a blanket 10% tariff on imports from the UK, with higer rates on specific sectors like automobiles.
Key events
Minister: government preference is for another 'private sector partner' for British Steel
Business and trade minister Sarah Jones has said it is the government’s preference to involve another private firm in the running of British Steel, rather than permanently nationalise it.
Appearing on Sky News, she said that “we’re being really careful to do this correctly because we don’t want to be spending taxpayers’ money in a way that would be in any way wasteful”, adding “that’s why our preference is for a private sector partner to come in.”
Jones did not rule out the involvement of a different Chinese firm, despite senior Labour figures urging the government to review Chinese investment in UK infrastructure.
She told viewers:
At the moment, I’m not going to say yes or no to anything that isn’t at the moment on the table or being looked at.
Whatever the future for Scunthorpe, we want to make sure we can keep primary steel-making, we can keep steel-making in our country and we can grow that industry, not see the continued decline that we’ve had over recent years.
Minister: cost of rescuing British Steel already budgeted for
Business and trade minister Sarah Jones has insisted that funds to rescue the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe has already been budgeted for, and is “within the existing fiscal envelope”.
Speaking on Tuesday morning on Times Radio, the Labour MP for Croydon West said:
We have been really clear on steel that securing the future of the site in Scunthorpe is not just important for the 2,700 people who work there, but also because we know that demand for steel in the UK is growing. We know there’s a market there.
We need more steel for the 1.5m homes that we want to build, for the clean energy, for the railway, for Heathrow, I could go on. So we know that there is an industry there that we need to support, but that can be viable into the future.
What we set out in the manifesto was a £2.5bn investment in steel in the UK through our plan for steel, so we have a fund that we want to use to make sure the steel industry can thrive well into the future, and that is all within the existing fiscal envelope and Government departmental rules.
Unite official: Birmingham city council has 'shifted goalposts' during bin dispute
Onay Kasab, national lead officer at Unite, has accused Birmingham city council of “shifting the goalposts on several occasions” in the dispute which has seen large amounts of uncollected refuse piled up on the streets.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Kasab said:
The fact is that the council have shifted the goalposts on several occasions. At some points they’ve said it’s about equal pay. Other points, they’ve said it’s about a better service. Quite how you get a better service by cutting people’s pay, I don’t know.
I think different political decisions need to be made. Why should working people be forced to pay the price for austerity? Why should our members pay the price for cuts to local authorities?
When it was put to Kasab that part of the problem was historical liabities over equal pay, the union official said:
Well, the Council have talked about equal pay liabilities. However, we have seen no details about that liability. And the challenge is, when talking about equal pay, we are not talking about harmonizing upwards and improving the pay of women. Nobody wins as a result of this type of equal pay, which is harmonizing downwards. Different political choices that need to be made about how local authorities are funded.
In a combative exchange, presenter Nick Robinson put to Kasab an anonymous briefing that had previously been reported by the BBC, accusing Unite’s national leadership of prolonging the dispute, claiming that the leadershiop was “in the grip of people for whom disruption, disputes and revolution are their priority.”
Kasab replied:
Well, I think that’s purile, to be perfectly frank with you. What we are engaged in is defending our members, pay and conditions, and we will make no apology for doing that time and time again. I’m not going to get into sort of mud slinging about personalities, but that type of briefing is purile. What we need to concentrate on is resolving this dispute.
Minister renews call for bin dispute in Birmingham to end
After the Unite union voted yesterday to reject a pay offer from Birmingham city council, business and trade minister Sarah Jones this morning reiterated the government’s call for the dispute to end.
Appearing on the BBC Breakfast programme, she said:
Fundamentally what needs to happen now is the strike needs to be called off. Unite need to accept the offer that’s on the table. It’s a good offer and that is what we are asking them to do, and that is the way we’re going to get back to normal in Birmingham.
Now I know that other councils are sort of coming in to support, that there is logistical support from the Army and that some private sector support is already there, but of course, it’s completely unacceptable, the images are awful and people have enough to worry about in their lives without having to worry about rubbish collection alongside it.
So our message loud and clear is Unite need to call off the strike, accept the deal, and let’s get back to normal, which is what people expect and what people deserve.
Government ministers today will be taking stock of some not great economic news, as the number of workers on UK company payrolls has fallen at the fastest pace since the height of the Covid pandemic, and UK business confidence appears to have fallen to its lowest level in over two years.
My colleage Richard Partington writes:
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of people employed in at least one job paid through pay as you earn fell by 78,000 in March after a revised fall of 8,000 in February.
Reflecting a slowdown in the jobs market, the latest snapshot showed annual pay growth rose slightly in the three months to February and remained at historically high levels. Regular pay, excluding bonuses, rose to 5.9%, from a revised 5.8% in the previous rolling three-month period to the end of January.
Despite the drop in the number of workers on company payrolls, the ONS said its official unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.4% in the three months to February.
It should be noted here is currently a caveat around ONS labour market data, with the validity of some of its data being questioned.
Minister welcomes 'positive' comments on possible UK-US trade deal from JD Vance
Business and trade minister Sarah Jones has welcomed comments from US vice-president JD Vance that the US is “working very hard” with the UK on negotiating a trade deal.
Appearing on LBC radio, the Labour MP for Croydon West said:
The conversations are ongoing, I can’t update more than that. We know we’re in a good position. We are having good conversations.
The secretary of state [Jonathan Reynolds] has been having good conversations with his partners, and there is a deal there to be done.
But as to when that will be done I wouldn’t be able to tell you, but it’s positive that the vice-president is positive about our negotiations.
JD Vance: 'good chance' of UK-US trade agreement with Trump administration
JD Vance has said the US is optimistic it can negotiate a “great” trade deal with the UK.
In an interview with online outlet Unherd, the US vice president told Sohrab Ahmari:
We’re certainly working very hard with Keir Starmer’s government. The president really loves the UK. He loved the queen. He admires and loves the king. It is a very important relationship. And he’s a businessman and has a number of important business relationships in [the UK].
But I think it’s much deeper than that. There’s a real cultural affinity. And of course, fundamentally America is an Anglo country. I think there’s a good chance that, yes, we’ll come to a great agreement that’s in the best interest of both countries.
The comments come just weeks after the Trump administration imposed a blanket 10% tariff on imports from the UK, with higer rates on specific sectors like automobiles.
Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning, and welcome to our live UK politics coverage for Tuesday. Here are your headlines …
Parliament isn’t sitting, but campaigning for local elections in some regions of England in May continues – Ed Davey will be in Cambridgeshire and Nigel Farage will be giving a campaign speech in the north east.
It is Martin Belam with you here today again. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com if you have spotted typos or what you consider to be errors or omissions.
