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Keir Starmer talks about relationship with Donald Trump as he seeks US-UK trade deal


Sir Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, said he could do a trade deal with Donald Trump and avoid punitive tariffs in the UK while saying it was “loud” to strongly criticize Elon Musk’s leadership.

Star makerspeaking to the Financial Times during a visit to Kyiv, he insisted Trump’s inauguration on Monday would not add to his political woes, saying they had a “constructive” relationship that would survive the ousting of the president’s friend who comes Musk, the richest man in the world.

“What’s important to me is my relationship with the US and my relationship with president-elect Trump,” Starmer said, dismissing a recent FT revelation that Musk was exploring ways to kick him out of Downing Street.

“Ultimately my experience is that you have to focus on what’s important,” he said, referring to Musk’s suggestion that he is a “tyrant” government leader. “Ignore the noise.”

Trump has asked Musk to help his new administration reduce US authoritarianism. Starmer also said he would be “ruthless on cuts” if necessary to maintain Labour’s budget policies after rising UK borrowing costs in recent months.

Starmer is putting a premium on what he believes is a strong initial relationship with Trump, despite the president-elect’s close ties to his domestic rival Nigel Farage, with Trump’s campaign in October accusing the party of his Labor for interfering with public affairs. US elections.

Starmer repeatedly asked the president-elect to host a dinner at Trump Tower in New York last September.

“He made a great effort,” said Starmer, sitting in a puffa jacket in Kyiv’s Kanapa restaurant, a fire burning in the corner. He came to New York to eat with me and I was very grateful for that.

The relationship is about to be tested, especially if Trump follows through on his threat to impose new global tariffs.

“The fees are not in anyone’s favor,” Starmer said, as plates of dumplings and mushrooms began to arrive. “Our desire is to have some kind of agreement with the US, a trade agreement. That’s where we’re looking.”

Some sort of UK-US trade deal has been the dream of successive British ministers since Brexit, but it has never happened. Starmer rejected the “false choice” he would have to choose between a deal with Trump or a better trade deal with the EU.

The timing of Starmer’s visit to Kyiv on Thursday – days before Trump’s inauguration – was a symbolic sign of the UK’s continued support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy: the two men signed a “100-year partnership” between two countries.

But it was also an opportunity for Starmer to show Trump that Britain was prepared to join France and other European allies in stepping up to the plate – perhaps by putting peacekeepers on the ground – if Ukraine agreed to end the war. and Russia.

Trump last month told Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron that he expected the people of Europe to keep the peace, but Starmer said he hoped the new US president would help put Ukraine “in a position the strongest” before any peace talks.

“He knows very well the contribution the US has made here,” said Starmer, whose visit to Kyiv was accompanied by a Russian airstrike over the city. “That is very important to both of us. I think you fully understand the important role that the US will play in this regard. ”

Zelenskyy on Thursday listed the US as one of those countries – along with Germany, Hungary and Slovakia – opposed to Ukraine’s membership in Nato. Starmer said he would “encourage” those countries to keep the doors open.

Meanwhile, Starmer had to suspend the agreement to transfer the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands – home of the US/UK military base Diego Garcia – from the UK to Mauritius due to fears from others in the group. of Trump that it may surrender to China. .

“I think it’s right that he should review it,” Starmer said, after the prime minister bowed to a request from Trump to study the deal before it was signed. But he insisted that the treaty would preserve the long-term future of the constitution.

Would Trump like to see Starmer’s continued relationship with Beijing, including his attempts to introduce more UK-China trade? “Let’s see,” he said. “The US is our closest friend. It is often better not to get ahead of ourselves.”

Starmer has enough economic problems without Trump making it worse, as Britain grapples with the threat of “stagflation”, with inflation above Bank of England2 percent target plus near-term growth. Businesses and markets have become more bleak.

But the Prime Minister insisted that her long-term economic strategy is still working and that her critics should stop getting hung up on daily economic data, rejecting suggestions that Rachel Reeves’ future as chancellor is somehow it depends on whether inflation last month was 2.5 percent. or 2.6 percent.

“I’ve always said it will take time,” Starmer said, arguing that British investment is strong. “I don’t think going over every single point every day is really reflective. We know it’s going to be a long journey.”

Ten-year yield line chart (%) showing UK borrowing costs falling back after steady rise

The UK 10-year yield hit a post-financial crisis peak of 4.93 percent last week, but has since eased to 4.66 percent by Friday. Gilts were weaker than expected, growth and sales data prompted investors to increase their premiums on interest rate cuts from the BoE.

Starmer said that if borrowing costs exceeded expectations and blew a hole in Reeves’ financial plans, he would not hesitate to take action, even if it would cause a huge row with many MPs and his staff. .

He said: “We will be ruthless in cutting if necessary. “Finally the budget rules and our commitment to them I trust them.” Starmer insisted that last year’s Budget, with an increase its £40bn revenue, has laid the foundations for growth.

“It’s about standardization, it’s about consistency, it’s about certainty,” he said. “It’s about not cutting and changing – it’s about sticking to the decisions that have been made, even if they were hard and right.”

Starmer’s approval ratings have fallen since the general election and Labour, according to another YouGov poll, is now just one point ahead of Farage’s Reform UK party. The nerves on the Labor bench are ringing.

“I love fights,” Starmer said, reflecting on the long train ride from Kyiv. “I had to fight to get the leadership of the Labor party, I had to fight to win the election. Five years ago people were saying, ‘he can’t’, but I said, ‘look at this place’.

Additional reporting by Ian Smith in London



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