'Is Donald Trump Taking You For A Ride?' Trevor Phillips Puts Minister In Hot Seat Over US Deal

Presenter Trevor Phillips asked the home secretary this morning if Donald Trump is taking the UK “for a ride” with their new trade deal.

Keir Starmer and his American counterpart proudly announced that Britain and the States had reached an economic agreement on Thursday.

It will see tariffs on British steel and aluminium exports to the US being cut from 25% to zero, while levies on 100,000 British cars being sold to America will be cut down from 27.5% to 10%.

The UK government has repeatedly claimed this deal helps saved thousands of jobs in manufacturing.

But the deal has come been criticised by some such as renowned American economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who told Sky News that any agreement with Trump is “not worth the paper it is written on”.

So presenter Trevor Phillips put these comments to home secretary Yvette Cooper on Sunday and asked: “Is Donald Trump taking you for a ride?”

She sidestepped the question, and instead said: “We have this agreement in place with the US, I think that is important, particularly the impact on our car industry for example, it’s really important for Jaguar Land Rover.”

But Cooper noted that the government does still “want to go further” with its relationship with the States, adding: “We are an outward looking trading nation, so clearly trade is important.”

Phillips asked her what this meant for the UK’s relationship with the EU, as some commentators, like Stiglitz, want Britain to be focusing on that instead.

The minister said the success of this US deal and the UK’s new deal with India prove why it’s best “not to do running commentary” on potential deals with other partners.