UK-EU trade talks in ‘final hours’ ahead of landmark summit May 18, 2025 Talks on a UK-EU deal are in their “final hours” ahead of a major summit with the bloc, the minister in charge of negotiations has said. Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce a deal with the EU when he meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa in [...]
MPs warn ‘secretive’ approach may have harmed EU ‘reset’ efforts May 18, 2025 The government’s “secretive” approach to negotiations with the EU may have harmed efforts to “reset” relations with the bloc, a cross-party group of MPs has warned. In a letter to Keir Starmer, the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said public support for closer relations with Europe meant the government had space to be “bold in its [...]
UK trading partners: China returns to top 10 as EU trade slumps May 12, 2025 China has returned to become a top 10 UK trading partner for the first time since 2022 after a slump in trade activity with the European Union. China is now the eighth largest trading partner for the UK, after countries like Ireland and Italy have declined significantly in popularity, data from Santander’s latest Trade Barometer [...]
UK-US deal is welcome, but Starmer must get on with the EU May 12, 2025 Our deals with the US and India reaffirm the UK's role as a trading superpower, but it's the EU we need to focus on, writes Chris Hayward.
UK financial services can still drive growth in a volatile world May 9, 2025 Geopolitical turmoil is threatening the resilience of UK financial services, but we don't need to sacrifice growth to protect them, writes KPMG's Karim Haji.
British businesses must capitalise on milestone UK-India trade deal May 7, 2025 British businesses must grab the opportunity from the UK-India trade deal to access one of the world's fastest growing economies.
Mark Carney’s Canadian win presents an opportunity for UK businesses April 29, 2025 Mark Carney’s victory in Canada presents a unique opportunity for UK businesses willing to seize it, writes Michael Martins.
UK-India trade deal reportedly 90 per cent agreed, businesses told April 10, 2025 The UK’s trade deal with India is reportedly 90 per cent agreed, businesses have been told, according to a report in the Guardian. Firms were informed on a call with trade negotiators this week that some remaining issues included cars, pharmaceutical drugs and the whisky trade, the newspaper reported, with India currently the largest overseas [...]
Starmer says UK government must ‘rise to the moment’ on tariffs April 10, 2025 The UK government needs to “rise to the moment”, Sir Keir Starmer said, adding that he would not “pretend” US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are “good news”. Speaking this morning after Trump announced a 90-day pause in his sweeping global tariffs, while raising his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 per cent, the Prime [...]
US tariffs: Reeves stresses ‘imperative’ to improve UK-EU trading relations April 9, 2025 Rachel Reeves has stressed it is “imperative” for the UK to improve its trading relationship with the European Union (EU), amid US President Donald Trump’s global trade tariff war. The Chancellor’s comments emerged in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) ahead of a crucial summit with EU leaders in London next month. Reeves told [...]