UK ‘days away' from new trade deal with Trump's US
The UK and the US are reportedly close to securing a trade deal aimed at mitigating the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs, with negotiations occurring in Washington.
The potential agreement may involve quotas exempting certain UK exports, like cars and steel, from tariffs, in exchange for UK concessions on its digital services tax affecting US tech firms like Meta and Amazon.
While the UK is said to be offering concessions on tariffs for US car exports and agricultural products, ministers insist they will not compromise on food production standards, ruling out imports of chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef.
Labour MPs have warned the government against favouring US tech companies with the digital services tax, with some describing potential concessions as "extractive politics."
The UK recently unveiled a £25 billion trade agreement with India, lowering tariffs on UK exports like whisky, gin, and cars, but ministers have denied claims that the deal undercuts British workers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The BBC's broadcast of Glastonbury hate chanting is nothing short of criminal
Another week, another utter disgrace for the BBC when it comes to antisemitism and the safety of Britain's Jewish community. This time the setting was Glastonbury. The BBC has been broadcasting live from the festival for many years. It employs hundreds of people to cover the event at significant expense to licence-fee payers. It is meant to have systems in place to ensure that racist, offensive content is not broadcast. So how was it possible on Saturday afternoon that the rap duo Bob Vylan were allowed to broadcast live on the BBC chanting 'death to the IDF' and talking about 'f-ing Zionists'? Why was the live feed not immediately cut? Why did BBC executives allow the racist rant to continue unchecked? The BBC's own editorial guidelines state the following: 'Material that contains hate speech should not be included in output unless it is justified by the context. Broadcasting hate speech can constitute a criminal offence if it is intended or likely to stir up hatred relating to race, or intended to stir up hatred relating to religious belief'. So has the BBC committed a criminal offence in broadcasting this hateful, racist material? The police should investigate, as should the BBC's Board, led by Chairman Samir Shah. How much longer can they tolerate the failings of BBC leadership on antisemitism and bias? Director General Tim Davie and his executives have had more than eighteen months to get a grip and yet this weekend's debacle shows the BBC's problems are getting ever worse not better. It is also time for the government and Ofcom to act. The BBC has repeatedly shown itself unable to get its own house in order on antisemitism, whether that be the racism broadcast live this weekend from Glastonbury, the consistent Jew-hate and bias from reporters on BBC Arabic or the debacle of the Gaza documentary that the corporation was forced to pull because, amongst other things, a payment had been made to the family of a Hamas official. The BBC's editorial failings on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias are now so numerous, so widespread and so consistent that perhaps I should not be surprised. But to see our national broadcaster allow this racist rant to be aired was stomach-churning. Many Jews I have spoken to feel the same: a mixture of shock, disgust, sadness and fear. There is disbelief that the BBC gave a platform to those inciting violence against Jews and gleefully telling racist stories. The BBC has hit a new low. It is, frankly, unforgivable.
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Pride organisers warn Trump's DEI purge directly hitting UK events as corporate sponsorships drop
UK Pride faces a 'critical' funding crisis amid warnings that Donald Trump 's assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the US is having a direct impact on firms in Britain. The UK Pride Organisers Network said 75 per cent of Pride events across the UK seen a decline in corporate sponsorships this year, with a quarter experiencing funding drops of more than 50 per cent. Meanwhile, GoFundMe has reported a 'remarkable' 82 per cent increase in organisers resorting to crowdfunding events to bridge the gap in funding. Pride organisers have told The Independent that big corporations who have long sponsored them are 'pulling back their funding in all aspects', especially those with head offices in the US, after Trump issued a series of executive orders targeting diversity programmes in the public and private sectors, with many corporations such as Amazon and Google scaling back their DEI efforts since February. While Pride has grown as a movement across the UK for a decade, Dee Llewellyn, chair of UK Pride Organisers Network and director of partnerships and growth for London Pride, said corporate funding has 'fallen off a cliff', causing a number of events across the country close their doors, including big events such as Liverpool. The situation has led one expert to warn that 'the golden era of corporate sponsorship might be over' for LGBTQ organisers. Mrs Llewellyn fears the LGBTQ community could experience 'five years of difficulty and struggles' as Trump fully implements the DEI cuts, adding 'it is the start of that process now.' 'I think we will see more global brands declining, not because they don't want to participate, but because they don't have the EDI budget to do so,' she added. 'It's not the people on the ground in the UK either, I've had brands that have withdrawn this year that were absolutely devastated to have to do it. 'But they've had their budgets cut from America and there was absolutely nothing they could do to argue or fight that in the UK.' Pride events across the country receive a bulk of funding from big businesses, varying on a scale of a minimum of 50 per cent funding to events like London, where approximately 95 per cent of the funding comes from corporate partnerships. Gary Richardson, an organiser from Worthing Pride whose regional celebrations were almost cancelled this year, said: 'It very much seems if they've got offices overseas, specifically in America, the DEI conversations that are happening there seem to be drip feeding into the economy over here'. John Hyland, former co-chair of Liverpool Pride and the Community Partnerships and Individual Giving Lead for LGBTQ charity Sahir, close supporters of Pride celebrations in the city, echoed Mr Richardson's point: 'When America sneezes, we all catch a cold.' 'Businesses seem to be a bit more reluctant to support LGBT organisations, which is having a massive impact on the likes of Pride,' he added. Pride in Liverpool had to cancel its plans this year due to 'significant financial and organisational challenges, which have impacted timescales and resulted in it reverting to an almost entirely volunteer-led operation.' Organisers severed ties with key sponsor Barclays in May after the bank's boss said it would prohibit Trans women from using female toilets in its buildings following the Supreme Court Ruling which ruled that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. 'I think definitely in light of what's happened with the Supreme Court ruling, we've had a number of number of transgender community-led protests happen in Liverpool,' said Mr Hyland. 'If there's a year where we need Pride to happen, it's this year and our community has been very vocal about that.' As well as a decrease in corporate sponsorships, organisers have cited that local communities have struggled to fill the financial hole in Pride events planning due to the cost of living. Mr Hyland said that calls for support from local businesses in Liverpool fell through because 'they haven't got that kind of money.' On an average year where it costs around £140,000 to produce Worthing Pride over a weekend, 60 per cent of budgeting comes from sponsorship, while the rest comes from ticket sales. This year, the organisers are aiming for 70 per cent from ticket sales and 30 per cent from sponsors. Instead of receiving support from five to six big sponsors, they've managed to accrue 20 small sponsorships instead, with a number of companies offering pro bono support. Dr Francesca Ammaturo, senior lecturer in in Sociology and International Relations at London Metropolitan University, author of forthcoming book The Politics of Pride Events: Global and Local Challenges, said that while big businesses have taken on Pride as an issue of corporate responsibility, organisers have relied on corporate sponsorship because public funding has not always been accessible to the LGBTQ+ community. 'Pride events have become really dependent on them,' she said. 'Now when you insert the rollback that Trump is enacting on DEI policies, that is sending shockwaves not just across the US, but also across the globe because of globalisation. She added: 'The repercussions for these companies to sponsor pride events even beyond the US could be creating some backlashes at home. 'It's quite difficult for LGBT organisers today to accept that the golden era of corporate sponsorship might be over, at least for now until we realise what is the next political that we will encounter.' Dr Ammaturo added that big business involvement in Pride had always been 'a very superficial commitment' more akin to 'a marriage of convenience which was conducive to a certain veneer of rainbow washing'. Mrs Llewellyn said that despite the radical funding cuts, Pride will persist in the UK, adding: 'It's essential now more than ever, really more than it has been over the past 10 years for us to be able to stand together as a community to have that safe space for us to join together. 'Pride is a protest. That is what it was born and rooted in,' she added. 'We've been through lots of hardships as a community, but when we stand together and we unite our voices, that is when we're strongest.'
BBC News
22 minutes ago
- BBC News
Piccadilly Circus: Car crashes and overturns by Eros statue
A car has crashed and overturned by the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus, central emergency services were called at about 05:30 BST to reports of the car ploughing into the tourist had come to a stop on its roof, next to bollards and rubbish bins ripped from the pavement in the Circus - one of the capital's busiest roundabouts – linking multiple roads to the West End and attracting millions of people every year.
