Trump has increased tariffs of 10% on all imports; the question is how will this reset with EU and China affect US tariffs on UK services and goods?
London: Labour have been in No 10 Downing Street for six months, Sir Keir Starmer has spend over a month abroad fulfilling obligations and on 2 December made a foreign policy speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London. We learnt that he will not choose US over Europe as the national interest demands that he works with both. His priority is economic growth and he praised the £63 billion of investment pledged in October; he is resuming FTA talks with India; he vowed to back Ukraine and to support their self-defence for as long as it takes to secure “a just and lasting peace”. He will take NATO forward, modernise the depleted British army and support AUKUS in the Indo-Pacific.
Following Starmer’s speech His Highness The Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani visited No10 resulting in a £1billion climate technology investment being agreed; also the UK and Qatar will plan the setting up of a shared Genomics Medicine Academy, and a joint commission on AI research. The Amir and his wife Sheikha Jawaher were entertained by the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace. Starmer is scheduled to visit the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia later this month seeking more investment.
Starmer met General Secretary Xi Jinping at the G20 in Rio, it started badly when Starmer raised the case of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai prompting Chinese officials to forcefully usher UK journalists out of the meeting room. Starmer’s objective is to visit CCP Premier Li Qiang in Beijing or to invite him to London. Foreign Secretary David Lamy visited Beijing in October to meet Wang Yi, according to the Foreign Office readout the meeting was wide ranging with Lammy intent on finding “pragmatic solutions to complex challenges”, including achieving the global green transition; making greater efforts on global health; and the safe use of AI. Lammy ventured concerns over China’s supply of equipment to Russia’s military industrial complex that risks damaging China’s relationships with Europe, whilst helping to sustain Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The Foreign Secretary urged Wang Yi to take all measures to investigate and to prevent Chinese companies from supplying Russia’s military. Human rights were also discussed and apparently the meeting was constructive across the full breadth of the UK-China bilateral relationship. It is reported Chancellor Rachel Reeves has plans to visit Beijing in January to revive the Economic and Financial Dialogue last held in 2019.
At the request of Xi Jinping, Starmer has called in the planning application for the new Chinese mega-Embassy at the Royal Mint in Tower Hamlets, it is being held up by the Met Police and local residents on the grounds that is it too massive (a 5 acre site) and will cause significant road blockages, any protests over 100 people would be unmanageable, it could be a security risk as it is so near to the Tower of London. Luke de Pulford, co-founder of IPAC, warns “it will likely become a massive hub for foreign interference”. The Met’s objection that was published on the planning portal has been removed.
Starmer and Lammy seem prepared to irritate President-elect Donald Trump regarding UK’s re-engagement with China. Trump has referred to US increased tariffs of 10% on all imports, the question is how will the reset with the EU and China affect US tariffs on UK services and goods, in 2023 22% of UK’s total exports went to US generating 7% of GDP.
Thanks to a Freedom of Movement reset more students from the EU might be permitted into UK under a cultural program under consideration in Brussels.
Starmer will not object if the Elgin Marbles were to be returned on loan to Athens under a new agreement with the British Museum, while it is being refurbished; seemingly oblivious to the old expression “ownership is nine-tenths of the law”.
Politico reports Downing Street now has no foreign policy Special Advisers. Professor John Bew, the foreign affairs adviser to three previous Prime Ministers, is no longer in the post. Meanwhile MAGA loyalist banker Warren Stephens has been nominated as Trump’s envoy to Britain; following speculation Peter Mandel son might replace the formidable Dame Karen Pierce as British Ambassador in Washington, it transpires that Dame Karen will stay on for the Trump administration transition.
Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity has dropped; voters from each side of the centre are experiencing “buyers remorse”. The reasons are many, to begin with he has abandoned the election manifesto and moved swiftly to implement policies that he did not prepare the electorate for…Even before Rachel Reeve’s catastrophic Budget it was announced around 10 million pensioners will not receive their usual Winter Fuel Allowance. Since the Budget National Insurance tax for employers has been increased by 1.2% leading to many corporations downsizing, Vauxhall Motors are closing their Luton plant with huge job losses; and the OBR has significantly downgraded the expectation of household disposable income growth as a direct result of increases in the employer National Insurance. Inheritance tax relief of up to 100% is currently available on qualifying business and agricultural assets, from April 2025 Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief will be capped at £1million, any excess will be taxed at 50%, this is making up to 75,000 farms unsustainable and family run or AIM listed businesses are hugely impacted by this disproportionate increase, which Labour had pledged not to touch in the run up to the election. And Ed Miliband’s NET Zero fanaticism is actually putting folks off green energy.
Earlier this year Starmer pledged to make UK the fastest growing economy in the G7, on Thursday he promised six domestic milestones for change: building 1.5 million new homes; increasing household disposable income; upping renewable energy capacity; employing 13,000 new police officers; cutting NHS waiting lists; and ensuring more children enter school “ready to learn” by the age of five but only a passing reference to aiming for the highest sustained growth in the G7.There was mention of the primary issue preoccupying Britain, illegal immigration.
A petition calling for a general election reached nearly 3 million signatures in 3 days, the government have agreed to debate whether they have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election on 6 January 2025.
Elon Musk is rumoured to place $100 million behind the Reform UK Party to make Nigel Farage Prime Minister, sounds like mischievous fun, however, at the moment a poll by Freshwater Strategy shows both Trump and Musk more popular in the UK than Prime Minister Starmer.