Keir Starmer delivered a major speech on the future of the British car industry after experts warned of a huge impact from Trump’s tariffs.
At Jaguar Land Rover’s headquarters in Solihull, West Midlands, the Prime Minister unveiled a raft of new policies to support automobile firms after Jaguar Land Rover announced over the weekend they would “pause” shipments to the US until they can “address the new trading terms”. He told workers at the factory “we are going to back you to the hilt”, pledged a new wave of support for the sector and said he would “keep calm” and “fight for the best deal with the US”. But the PM vowed that any deal would only be signed “if it is in our national interest.”
A 25% tariff is now applied to foreign cars imported into the US under previously announced tariffs which came into effect last week. In a bid to support manufacturers, Starmer has relaxed rules around fines for those who do not sell enough electric cars – and supercar firms will be exempted. He reinstated the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars – but regulations around manufacturing targets on electric cars and vans will also be tweaked to help firms in the transition. New hybrids will be on the market for another five years.
Luxury British carmakers, such as Aston Martin and McLaren will meanwhile no longer need to stop selling petrol and diesel cars by 2030, as they only manufacture a small number of vehicles per year. New hybrids and plug-in hybrid cars will be allowed to be sold until 2035, as well as petrol and diesel vans.
It came as the FTSE 100 fell as much as 6.3% to a one-year low in the wake of the global import tariffs announced by Donald Trump last week. The S&P 500 also plunged to its 11th worst 3-day drop in history, with figures more dire than those reported during World War 2 and the Covid-19 pandemic. US stocks nosedived at Monday’s open as the fallout from Trump‘s tariffs intensified, sending the stock market index into bear market territory.
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Billionaire Richard Branson has called Trump’s tariffs a “colossal mistake”, and has called on the US president to reverse his decision.
He said in a lengthy thread on X: “Financial markets everywhere are in free fall, with catastrophic results for ordinary Americans and for the rest of the world. Retirement savings will be wiped out at enormous scale.
“As the dollar is weakening, US consumer prices will rise. And countless small and medium-size enterprises will go, and already are going, bankrupt as a result. This is not a winning long-term strategy. The US government can still turn things around, but it must act in the next few hours.
“This is the moment to own up to a colossal mistake and change course. Otherwise, America will face ruin for years to come.”
Keir Starmer said in his speech this afternoon that the government would shield the auto industry and consumers from Donald Trump’s tariffs. He said “nobody welcomes tariffs” and the UK will be speaking to the US about a deal to alleviate the situation.
What is most important is for the UK to “shape our future”, Starmer said. “We have to step up. We can’t be cowed and simply say, ‘there are things happening in a changing world which make it more difficult, and therefore we retreat’. This is the moment to seize that opportunity.”
Keir Starmer has once again vowed not to raise national insurance, VAT or income tax in this parliament.
“We made that commitment in the manifesto and we were absolutely clear about it going into the budget and the spring statement.” He said “That is a commitment that we have made and a commitment that we will keep. The first lever can’t be more taxes.”
Keir Starmer has said the government will stick by plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars – but announced rules will be eased around hybrids. Speaking at Jaguar Land Rover, Mr Starmer said he would back the car industry, hit by massive tariffs on goods to the US, to the “hilt” The PM pledged to support firms and workers in a new era of “global instability” as billions were wiped off the FTSE 100 on Monday morning.
The PM stood by the 2030 deadline to ban sales of petrol and diesel vehicles after the Tory government pushed it back to 2035.
But he announced hybrid cars, which use either a petrol or diesel engine with an electric battery, such as the Toyota Prius and Nissan e-Power, will be allowed to be sold until 2035 to give the industry more time to prepare.
Keir Starmer also confirmed that, in addition to the new measures to support car manufacturers, there will also be plans drawn up for other vital sectors.
“In the coming days we’re going to use industrial strategy to shelter business from the storm”, he said, mentioning the life sciences sector as an example of “British brilliance”.
The Prime Minister said the sector, which includes pharmaceuticals and biotech, would benefit from plans to “rip up the red tape” and remove the “stifling bureaucracy” that “slows down clinical trials.”
This is not a passing phase, says Keir Starmer, as he says “old assumptions that we’ve long taken for granted simply don’t apply any longer.”
This is not a passing phase, says Keir Starmer as he says ‘old assumptions that we’ve long taken for granted simply don’t apply any longer’ pic.twitter.com/nJneuHggDx
The Prime Minister said there had been “intense” discussions in recent days over a trade deal with the US.
He added: “Our future is on our hands – we will keep on and fight for the best deal with the United States”
But he insisted he would only strike a deal “if it is in our national interest”.
He said the announcement of tariffs by the US is not a “passing phase” and likened it to recent shifts in the geopolitical landscape.
He described Jaguar Land Rover’s work as “engineering brilliance”, and told workers: “We are going to back you to the hilt.”
“This is a moment for cool heads – no-one wins in a trade war”
As the speech is underway in the West Midlands, business has opened for the day in Wall Street – where the Dow Jones is already 3% down a few minutes after opening.
Rachel Reeves has reinstated the 2030 phase-out date for new petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK – a measure which she said will help boost the growing EV industry.
The Chancellor is currently speaking – she has said the “global economy has become more uncertain” and that she knew auto sector workers would be “understandably concerned”.
“We have your back”, she added.
The Prime Minister has appeared behind his lectern and is about to give his speech to Jaguar Land Rover workers in the West Midlands.
I’m in the West Midlands where Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are announcing measures to protect the car industry from Donald Trump’s tariffs pic.twitter.com/tEmAv3LAwl
Donald Trump has ordered the world not to be “weak” and “stupid” despite economies across the globe in freefall amid growing fears of a recession.
The US president remained defiant on Monday despite the turmoil in the global markets.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid!
“Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!”
Donald Trump warns ‘don’t be weak and stupid’ as tariffs send stock markets into freefall
Tesla stock has slumped further amid more brand concerns for the electric car company.
Shares were down 7.1 percent in premarket trading at $222.49 after Wedbush analyst Dan Ives slashed his price target.
At the time of writing, Tesla stock is at 239.43 USD. That’s down 3.91 percent on the last five days, and 8.85 percent on the last month.
S&P 500 futures have dropped 2.2 percent for Tesla, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures 2.3 percent.
Ives said: “Musk-created brand crisis + Trump tariffs = perfect storm for Tesla.”
Tesla stock plummets in ‘perfect storm’ as expert highlights major concerns over Musk
We’ve now confirmation from Number 10 that Keir Starmer will be giving his speech in the West Midlands at 2.20pm.
Some analysts have warned that shock unleashed by Donald Trump’s tariffs is among the worst to face the financial markets in decades.
Henry Allen, a macro strategist for Deutsche Bank, said it is “no exaggeration” to describe the recent movements as “historic”, with huge swings happening across many investment sectors, and not just stocks and shares.
The S&P 500, which tracks America’s top listed companies, saw its fifth-worst two-day performance last week since World War II.
The sheer scale of the sell-offs has even been likened to the darkest days of the late 2000s Global Financial Crisis, and other major stock market crashes.
Hong Kong’s index saw its worst single-day performance today since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, while Taiwan experienced its steepest drop on record.
The US president has been posting on his Truth Social platform this morning amid growing pressure for him to row back on his huge tariffs on imported goods.
Trump claimed the new levies are already bringing in “billions of dollars a week from the abusing countries” – and said there is “NO INFLATION” in the US economy.
While inflation stood at 2.8% last month following several months of falling rates, economists have warned that the new tariffs could see the figure climb back up to at least 4% by the end of the year.
Keir Starmer did not speak to Donald Trump over the weekend, No 10 has said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he did not have any update on calls with the US president, and pointed to calls Sir Keir had held instead with leaders including those from Canada, Germany, France and the European Commission over the weekend.
Asked if Sir Keir was trying to persuade Canada and the EU not to retaliate over the US tariffs, the spokesman said it is “up to every country to respond in the way they see fit”.
The last few days have not “fundamentally changed the calculation” when it comes to the Government’s ambitions on an EU reset and a close trading relationship with the bloc, he added.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman was a supporter of Donald Trump’s bid for the White House – but has now demanded tariffs be scrapped in order to prevent an ‘economic nuclear winter’.
He said: “We are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down”
“By placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital.
Donald Trump’s ‘global war’ will cause ‘economic nuclear winter’ warns billionaire supporter
Today’s intervention by the Prime Minister comes after one thinktank warned that as many as 25,000 jobs could be lost in Britain’s car industry because of Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs.
Employees at Jaguar Land Rover and the Cowley Mini factory would be some of the most vulnerable, a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research said last week.
On a more positive note, they also suggested the UK’s ‘green transport’ sector – which includes electric vehicles – has the potential to make up for the losses if consumers are encouraged to “buy British and buy green.”
The FTSE is down 5.4% this morning – but Britain is far from the worst affected by the global financial turmoil this morning, with many countries seeing much deeper plunges.
Germany’s DAX index opened 9.4% lower, while Taiwan’s stock market suffered its worst one-day drop on record of almost 10% following the White House’s announcement of 32% tariffs on all goods imported from the country.
Trillions of dollars have now been wiped off the major stock exchanges since last week, adding to economists’ fears that Donald Trump’s tariffs could trigger a new global recession.
There’s been mounting pressure from the president’s business allies for him to ditch or water down his policy – but last night he insisted that the country needed to take its “medicine”, suggesting no U-turn is in sight yet.
The Prime Minister has declared “the world as we knew it has gone” ahead of a major speech in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
Keir Starmer will say that globalisation as we know it has ended and vow to “move further and faster” to boost growth in the UK.
After today’s speech in the West Midlands, he is expected to ramp up support for British businesses and will announce a raft of measures to grow the economy.
Keir Starmer’s chilling eight-word warning on major change for UK
Keir Starmer will declare his backing for “British brilliance” with a support package for the car industry in the wake of Donald Trump ’s tariffs.
The Prime Minister has given the go-ahead to watering down rules on selling electric cars to stop the industry being decimated. In a major speech on Monday, Mr Starmer will vow to help “ensure home-grown firms can export British cars” amid “global economic headwinds”.
He said that “global trade is being transformed” and businesses need “a government that steps up”.
Keir Starmer to announce major change on petrol and diesel cars and hybrids amid Trump chaos
This morning, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander responded to a question on whether there would be a global ‘bloodbath’ amid fears Donald Trump’s will cause a worldwide recession.
Asked by Sky News host Wilfred Frost on whether Trump’s measures would lead to a global recession, the Labour frontbencher admitted that global tariffs are “bad news”.
She said: “So the imposition of global tariffs and the reciprocal tariffs that some countries have and retaliatory tariffs that some countries have decided to apply, are bad news for the global economy, because it’s bad for global demand, it’s bad for prices and it’s bad for consumers, and so that is why we have to do everything that we can to protect the interests of the British people and British businesses.”
She said the Government will announce a string of moves to protect car manufacturers, stating: “And that is why we are setting out a package of support today for the car industry to provide certainty to British manufacturers and to ensure that they can remain at the cutting edge of the transition to electric vehicles, and also make sure that consumers can benefit from the cheaper running costs of electric vehicles as well.
“And so that’s why the Prime Minister has been clear that we need to do absolutely everything we can as a government to shelter British businesses from these global economic headwinds.”
Minister responds to fears of global recession as Trump tariffs cause market chaos
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