Mandelson ‘looking forward' to bringing down more US tariffs
On Friday, Donald Trump's press secretary insisted that the president will stand firm on the blanket 10% tariff on most UK imports into the US, telling reporters that he is 'committed' to the levy.
The deal announced on Thursday cut taxes on car imports of 100,000 a year from 27.5% to 10%, and also reduced tariffs on steel and aluminium through quotas. The baseline 10% rate for other goods remains in place but officials are still trying to negotiate on it.
Lord Mandelson told Newsnight: 'I'm very pleased with what we've achieved. It's taken many months of very tough negotiation, and it's also a platform going further and opening up more trade opportunities.'
He added: 'We're going to negotiate further and bring down further tariffs and remove further barriers to trade between us, that's what we're committed to, and I'm looking forward to doing that.'
Karoline Leavitt told a White House press briefing that the US president is 'committed to the 10% baseline tariff' imposed in April 'not just for the United Kingdom, but for his trade negotiations with all other countries as well'.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told reporters on Thursday that the UK's conversations with the US about 'those wider tariff lines and the 10% reciprocal tariff' were continuing.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer did not rule out the possibility of changes to the digital services tax as part of any future trade agreement and said that discussions on other aspects are 'ongoing'.
It imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech firms. Previous speculation 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.'
Lord Mandelson said that digital services were brought up during the negotiations for this week's agreement, and told the BBC that 'what they suggested wasn't acceptable to us, so it's not in the deal'.
The deal on Thursday is the first struck by the US since the new tariffs were unveiled last month, and comes after weeks of transatlantic talks.
Sir Keir told the Independent that he has 'struck up a good relationship' with the president.
'I am the sort of person that tries to have constructive and positive relations with people,' he said.
Kemi Badenoch has said she is 'concerned' about the prospects of the UK going on to strike a full free trade agreement in the wake of Thursday's agreement.
Speaking to reporters during a visit in Essex on Friday, the Conservative leader was asked whether she thought 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.'
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BBC News
13 minutes ago
- BBC News
Afghans express fear for relatives' safety after UK data leak
Relatives of Afghans whose names were accidentally leaked by a UK official three years ago have told the BBC they fear retribution by the country's Taliban - not his real name - says his father-in-law learned on Tuesday that his name was on that list - alongside those of thousands of Afghans who had applied to be relocated to the UK after the Taliban seized power in Taliban intensified their efforts to track his father-in-law down in 2023 and 2024, he said, adding that he was now able to understand Rahim fears it is only a matter of time before they succeed. "It's not about if - it's when the Taliban get him," he UK government says there has been little evidence of systematic killings or retribution by the Taliban since the February 2022 others who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity - fearing retribution against family members - expressed shock over the leak, with one describing it as the "biggest mistake the British government has made". Rahim, now 42 and living in the UK, knows all too well about Taliban score-settling. Two of his cousins were killed by the group in the two years before it seized power.A couple of years later, the target of such revenge appeared to be his father-in-law, who is currently in hiding."We couldn't work it out, why [from 2023] there was a sudden spike in the hunt by the Taliban to capture him," Rahim says."We can't say for sure, but we believe they have access to that data."Rahim says his father-in-law provided evidence of these attempts to hunt him down to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), most recently last December - his third attempt to be resettled in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap).He says his father-in-law's previous applications through the scheme were turned down because it was decided he had not worked directly with the UK government. But Rahim says his father-in-law's latest application included "compelling evidence" that he had worked alongside British adds that, since December 2023, his father-in-law has been hiding out in safe houses provided by a non-governmental organisation."Some Taliban members spent more than a decade in prison. When they came to power, they were simply looking for retribution."But he hopes the attention given to the data leak will mean that the relocation application is expedited so his father-in-law can finally join his daughter - Rahim's wife - and him in the UK."The family are very concerned," Rahim says."Because of this data leak the risk [to my father-in-law] is more real, it's heightened, and it's imminent. It's just a matter of time."The MoD says it will not comment on individual cases, and that a review into the data breach carried out in 2025 had concluded that there was limited evidence that certain individuals had been targeted with any degree of consistency as a result of MoD adds that the review had also found little evidence of systematic killings or retribution campaigns, and had considered the amount of time passed since the fall of Kabul and the wealth of data the Taliban otherwise have access Secretary John Healey also told the BBC earlier this week that it was "highly unlikely" being on the list would now increase the risk of being targeted by the Taliban. But the data breach was called the "biggest mistake the British government has made" by one man who says he worked directly with the UK forces in Afghanistan to help them collect information on Taliban man, who we are calling A, successfully relocated to the UK with his family but says his application to the government included details of his parents, brothers and sisters."I didn't know that my contacts were exposed and I only found out yesterday [Tuesday]," he tells the BBC."An apology alone will not remove our greatest fears because our data and our families' are now in everyone's hands - their lives are in danger."I called my parents in Kabul and told them to leave the city immediately and find a safe place somewhere in the province. They were also scared, they didn't know where to go... They haven't contacted me yet."Another man - who we are calling B - says he was told the data breach included the details of his parents and two younger brothers, none of whom previously knew about the nature of his work with the British. "Yesterday, I received an email from the MoD asking me to 'check the reference number to make sure your data has not been leaked. If it's red, it's leaked, if it's green, it's not'," he says."When I saw that the number was red, I couldn't sleep and I was very worried."Though he says he is now safe, he fears for his mother and younger brothers, who he left in a northern province of Afghanistan. He adds he did not call them about the leak over concerns about their safety."In the past the Taliban and other people repeatedly asked my father 'where is your son', why and how [I] left the country. "My father [was] extremely worried [and] died six months ago."I wish I had not told the British officials when I signed up for the job and hadn't revealed the names of my brothers. They could be in danger now."I didn't expect such a leak from British intelligence, we are all in shock."
Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The awful truth about Labour? They're just continuity Sunak
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South Wales Guardian
41 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Prime Minister says UK will ‘work ever more closely' with Germany
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