UK Politics

Peter Mandelson has described Donald Trump as a “people person” who could cut levies on British goods again after extraordinary scenes which saw the two men hold hands in the Oval Office this week. The UK’s ambassador in Washington said he was looking forward to negotiating with the US to “bring down further tariffs”.He also revealed that when he first walked into White House, President Trump said to him: “God, you’re a good looking fellow, aren’t you?”.And he described Trump as a “people person” who takes people at “face value”, saying that the president had judged him on his merits.Lord Mandelson and Donald Trump in the White House More

Whitehall departments are at risk of failing to get part of their funding in Rachel Reeves’s spending unless they decant hundreds of civil servants to other parts of the UK.A major government shake up will require more civil service jobs to be based in 12 locations outside London, delivering and developing government policy closer to the communities it affects.The move is expected to provide a £729m boost for local economies across UK in shake up to bring government closer to communities.The 12 growth areas are: Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, Darlington, Newcastle and Tyneside, Sheffield, Bristol, Edinburgh, Belfast and York.Pat McFadden will write to departments (Lucy North/PA) More

Sir Keir Starmer has revealed how his special relationship with Donald Trump helped secure a historic trade deal between the UK and US.In an exclusive interview with The Independent, the prime minister lifted the lid on how nurturing their friendship won the prize, proving critics wrong about his approach to dealing with a tricky opponent.Sir Keir said the “grown-ups” had set aside their huge political differences to reach a deal, and told how a last-minute telephone call from Mr Trump on Wednesday night finally secured a deal after weeks of negotiations by both sides.A joint news conference the next day, in which the two leaders were on first name terms, gave the appearance of the warmest relationship between a prime minister and president since Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.It marks an extraordinary turnaround for a Labour leader whose foreign secretary David Lammy once referred to the president as a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath”.Independent political editor David Maddox speaks to Keir Starmer More

Thousands of people gathered in Romania’s capital on Friday for a pro-European Union march. It came a week before the final vote of a closely watched presidential election that pits a hard-right nationalist front-runner against the capital’s pro-EU mayor.Marchers converged in Bucharest in front of the government building, where many waved the blue and yellow flags of Europe. Many chanted slogans such as “We are in Europe” and “Bucharest is not Budapest,” referring to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a member but also a longtime critic of the EU.A communist country until 1989, Romania joined the EU in 2007. But last year it was plunged into its worst political crisis in decades when a top court voided the previous election. The far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.The rally was held nearly a week after the first round of a presidential election redo that saw hard-right nationalist George Simion, 38, emerge as the front-runner. In second place was 55-year-old incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan. “We need to develop … we want to be like the best countries, and we don’t have the possibilities on our own,” said Stefan Gheorghe, a 23-year-old lawyer. “You need the European Union to help us out. It is very important to us to stay together … and to benefit from each other.”A median of polls ahead of the runoff suggests Simion holds a lead in the vote, which will be held between the two staunchly antiestablishment candidates on May 18. Observers have warned that the outcome could reshape the EU and NATO member country’s geopolitical direction.After reaching second place on Sunday night, Dan called the final vote a choice “between a pro-Western direction for Romania and an anti-Western one.”Simion’s critics have long accused him of being Russia-friendly and warn that his presidency would undermine both the EU and NATO as Moscow’s war drags on in Ukraine. But in an interview with The Associated Press this week, Simion rejected the accusations and said, “It’s not for the good of the Romanian people to be close to Russia.”“We want to be a member of the European Union. Some fake news were saying that we want to exit the European project,” said Simion, who leads Romania’s second-largest party, the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians. “We don’t want to leave. We are here to stay. We invested a lot.”Simion, who came fourth in last year’s race and later backed Georgescu, said in an earlier interview with the AP that he wants to see “more power” go to the bloc’s 27 individual members, “not toward the European institutions.”Similar rallies were held in several cities across Romania on Friday to mark Europe Day, a date that proclaims to celebrate peace and unity in Europe.Although Simion and Dan are ideological opposites, they both made their political careers railing against Romania’s old political class, which has fallen out of favor as strong antiestablishment sentiment among voters grips the country. For Diana Draghici, 38, the upcoming runoff will be a pivotal moment for Romania’s future and a choice between forging stronger EU ties or potentially shifting East. “I think it’s important that the young people who were undecided and didn’t vote so far … to have a wake-up call and choose who they want to have represented,” she said. “It could decide two extremely different scenarios for Romania’s future.” More

Sir Keir Starmer has declined to rule out changes to taxes on tech giants as part of a future trade deal with the United States.The Prime Minister said discussions are “ongoing”, but that the agreement announced on Thursday “doesn’t cover” the digital services tax, a levy that applies mainly to US tech companies.It comes as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she is concerned that the UK “will probably now not get a comprehensive free trade agreement” with America following Thursday’s announcement with US President Donald Trump.The digital services tax imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech firms. Previous speculation had suggested that the UK could revise the measure as part of a deal.Speaking to broadcasters on board HMS St Albans during a visit to Norway, Sir Keir said: “The deal that we signed off yesterday doesn’t cover that.“That’s predominantly focused on steel and aluminium and reducing those tariffs on car manufacturing and reducing the tariffs there, and then future proofing for pharmaceuticals, three really important sectors, and that, as I say, will be measured in thousands and thousands of jobs that will be protected, saved and will thrive as a result of this.“On digital services, there are ongoing discussions, obviously, on other aspects of the deal, but the important thing to focus on yesterday is the sectors that are now protected that the day before yesterday were very exposed.”As part of the agreement, US import taxes which had threatened to cripple British high-end car makers were cut from 27.5% to 10%, while the 25% tariff on steel has also been removed.The blanket 10% tariff imposed on imports by Mr Trump as part of his sweeping “liberation day” announcement remains in place, but talks are ongoing in a UK effort to ease it.Kemi Badenoch has said she is “concerned” about the prospects of the UK going on to strike a full free trade agreement.Speaking to reporters during a visit in Essex on Friday, she was asked whether she though Thursday’s deal was a success.“It’s not a huge success at all,” she said. “It’s not even a trade deal, it’s a tariff deal, and we are in a worse position now than we were six weeks ago.“It’s better than where we were last week, so it’s better than nothing, but it’s not much.“One of the things that concerns me is that we will probably now not get a comprehensive free trade agreement.A Treasury minister said earlier on Friday that the agreement was urgently needed to protect as many as 150,000 livelihoods.Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told the BBC: “We’ve signed that trade deal. We’ve got lower tariffs in critical manufacturing sectors in the UK, 150,000 people’s livelihoods that we’ve protected as a consequence of that trade deal.”The terms for the deal were published late on Thursday, and stated that the UK and the US are “beginning negotiations” to “develop and formalise the proposals” that have been made.It also suggested that either country could “terminate” the “arrangement” in the future with written notice, and it could be further altered in the future at the request of either side.“On request of either country, the United Kingdom and the United States will consult with a view to considering any changes that may need to be made to this arrangement to ensure that it remains mutually beneficial,” the general terms for the deal say.It also states that the US will compose a “quota” for UK steel and aluminium products, and there will also be a quota of 100,000 UK vehicles that will be allowed into the US at the newly agreed 10% tariff rate. More

Keir Starmer’s recent efforts have led to important trade deals with the US and India, and with an EU deal still to come, these agreements are a big step forward for the UK. While Starmer’s progress has sparked both optimism and scepticism, broader questions remain: Can the deal with Trump truly be considered a triumph, or is it more a case of damage limitation? And what of the fine print?The prime minister deserves credit for securing deals with three of the biggest markets in the world. The benefits will be small but real – and the potential of better access to the Indian market could be great in the longer term. I would rather have a government that can pragmatically and competently secure small gains in Britain’s interest than one showboating its distaste for Trump.In an exclusive Q&A with Independent readers, I tackled your questions surrounding the deal’s economic impact, its political implications, and its place in the ongoing saga of Britain’s evolving global trade strategy post-Brexit. From the possible benefits to the UK workforce to broader negotiations with the EU, the discussion covered a range of topics that touch on the very heart of the UK’s future on the global stage.Here’s what you asked during the “Ask Me Anything” session – and my responses to your questions.Q: Could this deal realistically be branded as a Brexit triumph?JimmyA: I don’t think so. It was made possible by Brexit, but the final accounting is that we lost more, economically, by leaving the EU than we gained by this exercise in damage limitation.Q: Are the Tories criticising the deal out of genuine concern or frustration over their own past failures?SophieeeeeeeA: It was striking in the House of Commons last night that sensible Tory MPs such as Julian Smith and Mark Pritchard welcomed the US deal, praising Keir Starmer and Peter Mandelson.Kemi Badenoch made a mistake, I think, in criticising both the India and US deals. As you say, they are precisely the kind of deals that she and the Tory government were desperate to do, and she ends up opposing deals that add (however incrementally) to British prosperity. Even Nigel Farage said the US deal was “heading in the right direction”.Q: What are the tangible benefits of this deal to the average UK and US person?MattAllenbyA: The benefits are marginal, but real. They are particularly relevant to workers at Jaguar Land Rover and other car companies, which is why Starmer went to Solihull for the announcement.It is fair enough to say that the benefits seem vague, partly because many of the details have yet to be negotiated, but partly because the general benefit is slightly lower prices than we would otherwise have.That is one reason why free trade is never as popular as it should be, while protectionism seems attractive. The only silver lining for those of us who believe in free trade is that Trump is conducting a real-life experiment in demonstrating that tariffs mean higher prices and fewer jobs for the country that imposes them on its imports.Q: Do the Trump and India deals weaken the UK’s bargaining power with the EU?BBenBA: No, I think that is one of Starmer’s more impressive achievements. He was told that he had to choose between the US and the EU, and he has shown that he can do a deal with both. Obviously, the US and India deals would have to be scrapped if we wanted to rejoin the EU, but until a British government reaches that point, which could be a decade away (or never), it makes sense to do pragmatic deals elsewhere.Q: Will we get steroid beef and chlorinated chicken or not?JamieA: The UK government is absolutely clear that our food standards will not change. Hormone-treated beef and chlorinated chicken will continue to be banned from the UK. That said, plenty of US beef meets UK standards, so it is an opportunity for American farmers. In order to allay fears of British farmers, US exports to the UK will be subject to quota limits that will be only gradually increased.Q: Won’t most people be more concerned with the voting system and local government funding than a deal with Trump, given his track record?Neil MartinA: I agree that Trump is not a reliable partner, but this agreement has been written down and published. The details have yet to be negotiated, but that negotiation will be done by teams of officials who will be guided by the published terms. And the bottom line is that reducing Trump’s tariffs is good for Britain – not a huge benefit, but worth having.As for the voting system, I would say definitely not; and local government funding ought to be of a higher priority for British voters than it is.Q: Are these trade deals aimed at marginalising China, and does trade with India suggest an imminent conflict in Yemen?Paul T HorganA: I think that some of the commentary about Donald Trump co-opting Britain into his trade war against China has been overdone. There are clauses in the agreement about ensuring the security of supply chains and protections against forced labour, which are aimed at preventing Chinese content going to the US through the UK, which seems reasonable enough.As for Yemen, I think the case for keeping the Red Sea open is independent of an India-UK trade deal!Q: Why is the media calling it a deal when it’s just a non-binding outline for future negotiations?EdwinHA: The answer to your question is: because journalists report these things using normal English, in which “deal” means an agreement, even if there are legal texts still to be negotiated. I think most of the reporting has been clear that what was announced yesterday was an agreement in principle on the main points. I don’t think there is much prospect of the US going back on its commitment to abolish tariffs on steel and aluminium and to cut tariffs on cars, which are the most important points.Your point will also apply to the EU-UK agreement that will be announced on 19 May: this too will be only a “heads of agreement” document, but again the main points will in effect be decided at that point. Most trade agreements are like this, and the parties usually follow through on the high-level agreement, so I think it is justified to call this “general terms” document a deal.Q: Why is this being presented as a great deal when the UK has made significant concessions with unclear benefits?mindfulA: Your question reminds me of the cartoon by Morten Morland of Trump pushing Starmer into the water, rescuing him and shaking his hand. Yes, this is all Trump’s fault: he has damaged the British economy (and damaged the American economy even more). This deal reduces some of that damage. So the deal is worth having, but we shouldn’t have been attacked in the first place.”Standing up to Trump” would be a fine but pointless gesture, the price of which would be paid by British people struggling with the cost of living.Q: Why did Starmer bend the knee just to return to the original situation, undermining trust and showing little interest in closer EU relations?Luca MigoA: I think things are both worse and better than you think. Keir Starmer “bent the knee” (that is, behaved politely and pragmatically) to come some way back towards the initial situation. We will still be worse off than we were before Trump became president, but we are better off than we were at the start of this week.As for the EU, the terms of an EU-UK agreement will be announced on 19 May. None of this is perfect, but it is a huge negotiating triumph to complete three trade agreements with three huge markets in two weeks. They all make us slightly better off – the EU deal is the most important – but they are all worthwhile.Q: Will streamlined customs paperwork be put in place to speed up UK-US imports and exports?John MooreA: There is a section of the agreement that talks about increased digitisation of import-export paperwork (it calls it “digitalisation”), but I suspect that this is more a matter of speeding up the move to paperless working that is happening anyway.These questions and answers were part of an ‘Ask Me Anything’ hosted by John Rentoul at 3pm BST on Friday 9 May. Some of the questions and answers have been edited for this article. You can read the full discussion in the comments section of the original article.For more insight into UK politics, check out John’s weekly Commons Confidential newsletter. The email, exclusive to Independent Premium subscribers, takes you behind the curtain of Westminster. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, head here to find out more. 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Sir Keir Starmer’s war on bats and newts risks breaching Britain’s post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, a secret report has warned. The prime minister has vowed to rip up protections for the animals as part of a drive to slash planning red tape and get Britain building again. But a leaked EU report has warned that plans aimed at boosting economic growth could violate the terms of the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement (TCA). The confidential document, revealed by Politico, said the measures could breach “non-regression” clauses agreed by former prime minister Boris Johnson when he led Britain out of the EU. It said: “The revision of environmental planning rules to facilitate building new developments is potentially in breach of the EU-UK TCA.” The government has vowed to stop newts and bats from blocking building More

Sue Gray has warned “Afghan women are being systematically removed from their own society” in her first remarks since being ousted as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. The former top civil servant warned the prime minister and world leaders they must not “legitimise any process that sidelines Afghan women”. And, speaking publicly as she joined the Friends of Afghan Women Network (FAWN) as chair, Baroness Gray said “we must all pull together to do better”. Sue Gray was sacked in October More