UK wants ‘cool, clear thinking’ in face of Trump’s tariff menace, says Peter Kyle – UK politics stay

My colleague Jasper Jolly reviews that Thames Water is to enchantment to the UK’s competitors regulator to be allowed to boost prospects’ payments over the following 5 years even greater than beforehand granted. He writes:

Thames Water, which is on the verge of monetary collapse, had wished to boost payments by 59% over the following 5 years. It stated on Friday morning its board had concluded that Ofwat’s last willpower, of a 35% enhance, wouldn’t permit the funding and enchancment wanted to enhance its companies.

Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard argued that Thames Water shouldn’t be allowed to boost payments additional as a result of a 35% enhance over 5 years was “more than enough,” including “So much of the money is being spent on sky-high interest rates and advisory fees. Everyone’s focus now should be putting the company into special administration so its balance sheet can be reset and our bills spent on actually fixing the sewage network.”

Thames Water is presently loaded with about £19bn in debt, and was within the excessive court docket final week looking for an emergency £3bn mortgage. The corporate has paid out a major quantity of shareholder dividends because it was privatised, and in December 2024 was ordered to pay an £18.2m penalty after the water trade regulator confirmed the troubled utilities firm had breached dividend guidelines. The water trade in England and Wales was privatised in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative authorities.

Prime minister Keir Starmer has instructed Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the UK is dedicated to Ukraine being “on an irreversible path to Nato.”

The pair spoke this morning, forward of the conferences on the Munich Safety Convention the place the sudden Trump administration push to finish the struggle in Ukraine has already been criticised as appeasement in direction of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

In a read-out from the decision, Downing Road stated

The prime minister spoke to the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this morning.

The prime minister started by reiterating the UK’s concrete help for Ukraine, for so long as it’s wanted.

He was unequivocal that there may very well be no talks about Ukraine, with out Ukraine.

Ukraine wanted robust safety ensures, additional deadly support and a sovereign future, and it might rely on the UK to step up, he added.

The prime minister reiterated the UK’s dedication to Ukraine being on an irreversible path to Nato, as agreed by allies on the Washington Summit final yr.

Discussing the upcoming third anniversary of Ukraine’s brave defence of its sovereignty within the face of Russia’s barbaric full-scale invasion, the leaders agreed that it will be an vital second to display worldwide unity and help for Ukraine.

EU international coverage chief and former Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, has already been extremely vital of the Trump administration’s opening gambit in negotiations, saying “Why are we giving them [Russia] everything that they want even before the negotiations have been started?” she stated. “It’s appeasement. It has never worked.”

Earlier this week Donald Trump’s new protection secretary Pete Hegseth stated “We must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.”

My colleague Jakub Krupa is protecting the Munich Safety Convention stay for the Guardian, the place we predict to listen to from Ursula von der Leyen, JD Vance and Zelenskyy amongst others. You’ll be able to comply with that right here.

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, in addition to talking about native election postponements, has been on social media complaining in regards to the authorities’s plan for the renting sector.

Citing a Telegraph story utilizing information from England which claims “Labour’s war on landlords triggers record wave of eviction claims” he stated:

As we have now stated, Labour’s Renters Rights Invoice is unhealthy for tenants. The UK personal rented sector is dominated by landlords who’re personal people (94%), and plenty of will exit the market somewhat than danger struggling by the hands of a dodgy, difficult-to-remove tenant.

Labour says that its invoice, which solely applies to England, goals to “abolish section 21 evictions and move to a simpler tenancy structure”, “ensure possession grounds are fair to both parties, giving tenants more security, while ensuring landlords can recover their property when reasonable”, “provide stronger protections against backdoor eviction by ensuring tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents which are purely designed to force them out”, introduce a brand new personal rented sector landlord ombudsman” and “apply the decent homes standard to the private rented sector” amongst different measures.

Opposition Conservative chief Kemi Badenoch has launched a proper bid to maintain native elections scheduled for some areas of England this Could, as her shadow enterprise secretary warned cancelling them was “entirely wrong”.

As a part of the Labour authorities’s regional devolution plans for England, elections have been delayed in 9 areas whereas native authorities work on a brand new construction that will see present “two-tier” preparations (the place residents have service supply break up between a county council and a smaller native council) reorganised into single unitary authorities. Polls due on 1 Could in these areas would as a substitute happen subsequent yr.

Badenoch has laid an early day movement calling for the order to postpone the elections to be “annulled”.

Kevin Hollinrake, shadow secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, instructed PA Media:

The Labour Authorities have massively rushed this imposition. There was no try to assemble consensus inside two-tier areas. Native residents haven’t been consulted at any stage.

Council leaders have a “gun to their head” from the Labour authorities. These elections will not be being “postponed” – they’re being cancelled. This mass change is unprecedented and fully unsuitable.

We’re significantly involved in regards to the important delay of as much as three years earlier than the brand new councils are in place, and present councillors serving a seven-year time period.

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner introduced the delay to elections throughout the 9 areas earlier this month, when she instructed the Commons: “We’re not in the business of holding elections to bodies that won’t exist. This would be an expensive and irresponsible waste of taxpayers’ money.”

The adjustments have an effect on elections scheduled in Could for seven county councils – Essex, East Sussex, Hampshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and West Sussex – and for 2 unitary councils – Thurrock and the Isle of Wight.

The reform will result in the introduction of six elected mayors – in Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Higher Essex, Hampshire and Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton – together with merged county and district councils.

Polly Toynbee’s column at this time is in regards to the assisted dying invoice affecting England and Wales. You’ll be able to learn it right here: The concerted assault on assisted dying gained’t cease the general public supporting this invoice

The UK’s competitors watchdog has really useful sweeping adjustments for the child system trade, Joanna Partridge reviews:

The CMA proposed 5 measures on Friday, which it says will enhance outcomes for folks and will permit them to save lots of £300 a yr by switching to a lower-price model.

Child system may very well be positioned in standardised packaging in hospitals, whereas it stated mother and father must be allowed to make use of reward vouchers and loyalty card factors to purchase system milk, as a part of efforts to fight hovering costs and lack of alternative available in the market.

Nevertheless, the regulator has determined in opposition to recommending rules equivalent to a value cap on child system or a profit-margin cap, which the Greek authorities did final yr with the goal of creating merchandise extra inexpensive. The CMA stated such a transfer would “involve significant risks”

You’ll be able to learn extra right here: UK watchdog proposes sweeping adjustments for child system trade

Science secretary Peter Kyle was put beneath strain in the course of the morning media spherical over reviews that the net CV of Rachel Reeves contained inaccuracies after one other spherical of media hypothesis in regards to the chancellor’s profession previous to coming into politics.

He instructed BBC Breakfast “What you’re talking about here is something that Rachel has already addressed, and it is someone on her team set up a LinkedIn profile, and they got the dates out by a few months actually.”

PA Media reviews he added “But what you’ve seen with Rachel is a Chancellor who is an economist by training and by practice, and she’s brought that experience into Government, and judge her on actions and not just words.”

Yesterday the BBC reported that Reeves “Reeves and two colleagues were the subject of an expenses probe while she was a senior manager at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) in the late 2000s.”

Chatting with the BBC Radio 4’s Right now programme, Kyle instructed the BBC report was “totally inaccurate”, saying:

Sadly, the reporting has been completely inaccurate, and we heard yesterday that the one that was truly head of HR at that financial institution at the moment says it’s unfaithful, stated that she by no means, ever obtain a file on Rachel Reeves.

And he or she says that earlier than she left the financial institution, there was no investigation that handed her desk. And he or she’s additionally stated if there was one, it will have handed her desk. I didn’t see any of that reporting included within the story I learn yesterday night on the BBC web site.

The BBC’s on-line report now contains the road “We have not been able to establish what the final outcome of the investigation was. Indeed, it may not have concluded.”

Reeves is going through native media later at this time throughout a go to to the East Midlands.

The UK wants “cool, clear thinking” over the specter of new commerce tariffs being imposed by the Donald Trump administration within the US, science secretary Peter Kyle.

PA Media reviews that showing on Sky Information, he was requested if Britain must be frightened in regards to the US President’s newest menace to impose tariffs as a retaliation for charging VAT on US items.

He stated:

The very first thing to reassure folks is that we’d like a authorities with cool, clear considering at instances like this, and that is what you may have with this Authorities.

We are going to assess any adjustments and challenges that come down the road from any a part of the worldwide financial system, and we’ll act appropriately in one of the best curiosity of Britain.

The second factor to say is that regardless of the circumstances globally, you’ve obtained to get the foundations proper for operating our home financial system. That’s why we mounted among the challenges we inherited from the earlier authorities.

Requested whether or not the UK would anticipate to impose retaliatory measures, he added “What I said is that we will have a cool, clear look at what’s in the national interest, and we will respond accordingly, based on what we actually have in fact.”

On Thursday the US president introduced he would introduce sweeping new “reciprocal”, pledging to roll out a “beautiful, simple system” of latest US import duties that match these imposed by different international locations. No new particular tariffs have been introduced. Through the announcement the president particularly talked about treating the European Union’s 20% VAT fee as an equal to being a tariff.

Callum Jones, writing in New York for the Guardian yesterday, famous that:

The administration has to this point threatened extra tariffs than it has launched. Duties on Colombia have been shelved when it agreed to simply accept army plane carrying deported immigrants; duties on Canada and Mexico have been repeatedly delayed; and modified duties on metal and aluminum, introduced earlier this week, won’t be enforced till subsequent month.

An extra 10% tariff on items from China is, for now, the one threatened commerce assault truly enforced since Trump returned to the White Home. On Friday, it emerged {that a} key part of this – eradicating the longstanding duty-free standing of low-cost packages – had been delayed.

Good morning, welcome to our stay UK politics protection for Friday. Listed here are your headlines …

• The UK authorities will “wait and see” whether or not tariffs introduced by Donald Trump “actually come to pass”, a senior minister stated, with science secretary saying the UK wants “cool, clear thinking”

• Ministers are making an attempt to “mission-wash” each merchandise of spending of their departments, based on officers, earlier than a spending overview at which Rachel Reeves has demanded they justify each pound they obtain

• Angela Rayner has insisted Labour’s flagship bundle of staff’ rights will likely be ringfenced from a bonfire of regulation being pursued by the federal government to reboot financial progress

• A minister has accused the BBC of “totally inaccurate” reporting over Reeves’ HBOS bills investigation declare. Reeves is going through native media later at this time throughout a go to to the East Midlands

• The vast majority of academy leaders in England say the authorities’s new faculties invoice won’t have an effect on how they handle their faculties, based on a brand new survey of multi-academy belief chief executives

• Overseas secretary David Lammy and defence secretary John Healey are in Germany for the Munich Safety Convention. Jakub Krupa will likely be protecting that for the Guardian on the Europe stay weblog

It’s Martin Belam right here with you at this time. You’ll be able to attain me on martin.belam@theguardian.com when you spot typos, errors or omissions.