Reeves says government does not want hasty response to Trump tariffs what would put ‘prize’ of economic deal at risk
Reeves says the government will respond to the Trump tariffs in a calm way. She says he met big exporters this morning, and they support this approach too.
She says “the prize on offer is an economic agreement” and businesses do not want the government to do anything that would put this at risk.
Key events
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Afternoon summary
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Greater Manchester demonstrates ‘game changer’ approach UK needs to deliver public services properly, Burnham says
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Attorney general criticises MPs who make personal attacks on judges, saying this is ‘huge threat to rule of law’
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Attorney general says legal advice to ministers under Tories encouraged them to back potentially unlawful policies
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Reeves says government does not want hasty response to Trump tariffs what would put ‘prize’ of economic deal at risk
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Reeves does not rule out future tax rises, but says she will not repeat budget on ‘scale’ of last year’s
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Attorney general says review needed because some migration tribunal decisions imply ECHR ‘not being applied properly’
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Reeves suggests she is not backing calls for OBR to be required to update its forecasts just once a year, not twice
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Reeves declines to says if Richard Hughes will be reappointed as chair of OBR
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Rachel Reeves gives evidence to Commons Treasury committee on spring statement
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Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty ducks question about how much US might contribute to cost of Chagos Islands deal
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PMQs – snap verdict
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Starmer rejects Lib Dem call for him to lead economic ‘coalition of willing’ fighting trade war against US
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Starmer says Tory claim ‘jobs tax’ will cost families £3,500 a ‘fantasy figure’
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Starmer says trade war ‘in nobody’s interest’ and government will take ‘calm, pragmatic approach’
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Green party says Israel’s plan for ‘security zones’ in Gaza would be ‘ethnic cleansing on mass scale’
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Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs
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Patrick Harvie to stand down as co-convenor of Scottish Greens, saying he’s helped them become ‘serious political force’
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Plaid Cymru says Britain should respond to Trump tariffs by rejoining EU single market and customs union
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Heathrow warned about power supply days before outage caused closure, MPs told
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71% of Britons would support retaliatory tariffs against US, poll suggests
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UK won’t engage in ‘kneejerk’ response to Trump tariffs, says minister
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Patient satisfaction with NHS has hit record low of 21%, survey finds
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Starmer urged to join EU and Canada in fighting Trump with retaliatory tariffs
Afternoon summary
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Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has told MPs that the government does not want to give a hasty response to the Trump tariffs because it does not want to put the “prize” of an economic deal with the US at risk. (See 3.36pm.) But, in evidence to the Commons Treasury committee, she said even with a deal with the US, the UK could still face difficulties. As Bloomberg reports, she said:
If we are able to secure an economic agreement with the United States, which we very much want to secure, and are working hard to secure, even if that is possible, it doesn’t mean that somehow we are therefore out of the woods and not impacted by tariffs.
The specific tariffs on the UK are less relevant to the growth and inflation impacts than the global picture because we are an open trading economy and depressed demand from overseas because of tariffs, higher inflation overseas because of tariffs has a direct impact on the UK.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research thinktank has said much the same. In an assessment, it says:
Our estimates also show that the UK economy is vulnerable to the negative effects of US tariffs through both direct and indirect channels. We find that tariffs raise prices and weaken economic activity in the United Kingdom, with the size of the effects depending on the scope of the tariffs. Even if the United Kingdom were exempt from these tariffs, economic activity could still suffer due to broader global disruptions. In a worst-case scenario where high tariffs are applied, UK GDP growth could fall to zero next year.
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Keir Starmer has accused the Conservatives of using a “fantasy figure” to claim that families will be £3,500 poorer due to the rise in employer national insurance contributions.
