- US and UK trade deal: Parliament must be given a vote
- Interest rates: Trump tariffs, spiralling bills and jobs tax still ‘hammering’ millions of households
- UK-US deal: would show “complete disrespect” to public if waved through with no vote
- Greene responds to direct award of ferries to CalMac
- Cole-Hamilton marks VE Day
- McArthur responds to FM’s comments on assisted dying
US and UK trade deal: Parliament must be given a vote
Commenting on reports that a US/UK trade deal will be announced later today, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
Parliament must be given a vote on this US trade deal so it can be properly scrutinised.
A good trade deal with the US could bring huge benefits, but Liberal Democrats are deeply concerned that it may include measures that threaten our NHS, undermine our farmers or give tax cuts to US tech billionaires.
If the government is confident the agreement it has negotiated with Trump is in Britain’s national interest, it should not be afraid to bring it before MPs.
Interest rates: Trump tariffs, spiralling bills and jobs tax still ‘hammering’ millions of households
Responding to the Bank of England cutting interest rates to 4.25%, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
Today’s rate cut is of course welcome news, but it cannot distract from the fact that millions of households are still being hammered by Trump’s tariffs, spiralling bills and a growth-crushing jobs tax that is already eating into pay packets.
To break the cycle of stagnation left by the Conservatives, the government must scrap its jobs tax, fix the broken business rates system and stand up to Trump’s tariffs.
We urge the government to build an economic coalition of the willing with European and Commonwealth allies and set its sights higher by pursuing a bespoke UK-EU customs union. This is the way to reboot our economy, rebuild public services and protect family finances.
UK-US deal: would show “complete disrespect” to public if waved through with no vote
Responding to Keir Starmer’s press conference regarding the UK-US agreement, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
When it comes to any trade deal – and especially one with someone as unreliable as Donald Trump – the devil will be in the detail. One thing is clear, Trump’s trade tariffs are still hitting key British industries, threatening the livelihoods of people across the UK.
The Government must now publish the full details of this deal and give MPs a vote. It would show complete disrespect to the public if this deal was waved through without giving Parliament a say.
The Liberal Democrats will continue to ask the questions the public want answers to. Like so many people, we have grave concerns about Donald Trump’s attempts to undercut British farmers, undermine children’s online safety and secure tax breaks for US tech barons. These are compounded by Trump’s history of breaking his word and ripping up trade deals on a whim.
Greene responds to direct award of ferries to CalMac
Responding to the news that the Scottish Government will implement a direct award of the next Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract to CalMac, Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson and MSP for West Scotland Jamie Greene said:
It’s no secret that the SNP have been keen to directly award major contracts to CalMac for some years.
The big concern people have with this direct award is that without a competitive tender process, there is no way to hold the incumbent operator to account on its many promises to improve services.
The entire network desperately needs new ferries and faces endless disruption due to technical faults and cancellations. The SNP rarely ever consult islanders and businesses on what’s best for them or what they want, as evidenced by the changes introduced to the Cumbrae route.
Cole-Hamilton marks VE Day
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:
Today we commemorate the moment when 80 years ago, the high command of the Allied Forces received the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich.
Whilst war still raged in the Pacific, for the first time in 6 years, across these islands, the tension, grind and privations of wartime, gave way to lasting peace.
In a radio broadcast to the British people and to the world, King George VI said:
‘On this day of just triumph and proud sorrow, let us take up our work again, resolved as a people to do nothing unworthy of those who died for us and to make the world such a world as they would have desired, for their children and for ours.’
His words ushered in the long peace that most of us have only ever known.
As we give thanks today for the sacrifice laid down by the generations to come before us, we must rededicate ourselves to the promise of that peace and its furtherance for our children and theirs to come.
McArthur responds to FM’s comments on assisted dying
Responding to the First Minister’s comments on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill this afternoon, Liam McArthur MSP said:
Given John Swinney’s position on this issue in the past, I have always been aware that I was unlikely to win his support. Nevertheless, I would like to thank him for his considered approach, the time he has taken to discuss the issue with me and his recognition that in this vote he does not speak for his party but solely on a personal basis.
He will know that this is an issue on which an overwhelming majority of people of Scotland believe a change in the law is required. Public polling is consistent across age range, disability status, geographic area and religious belief: Scots want a change in the law to allow terminally ill people the choice of an assisted death.
This bill has been a long time coming but it does now offer the opportunity to provide that compassionate choice for the small number of terminally ill Scots who need it. Drawing on international evidence, my bill would ensure that people are able to exercise that choice in a way that is robustly safeguarded.
Ahead of the Stage 1 vote next Tuesday, I would urge my colleagues to listen to the voices of terminally ill Scots desperate for more choice, control and dignity and I would urge them to take account of the experience of so many people across Scotland who have witnessed the harrowing deaths of friends and loved ones, often despite the very best efforts of palliative care.
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6 Comments
Might the article below on the U. S./U. K. trade deal be of interest/relevance?
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/05/09/the-us-trade-deal-is-a-bad-deal-and-it-has-the-potential-to-get-worse/
…………..US and UK trade deal: Parliament must be given a vote…….
Given Labour’s majority in the HoC that will achieve what?
On the India deal this party echoed Farage; on the US deal it looks like this party is echoing Badenoch..
Hi Expats, I understand your point about parliamentary vote on trade deals, but sometimes you just have to clearly say – This is wrong and this is why. The reason people are voting for us now is because on many occasions we said such things and we were proved to be right.
As almost always, our problem is getting publicity for our position. Ed had to do all sorts of stunts to get them publicised. Let’s try to give him the opportunity to do it with gravitas this time!
@David Evans 9th May ’25 – 2:30pm..
David I agree with the thrust of your argument, however, If we have reservations about the deal let us say so NOW..
Badenoch’s, and our, knee jerk response appears to be that 10% is not as good as the 2.5% that existed pre-Trump; but Obama, Trump1 and Biden are history and we are dealing with Trump2 (I wish we weren’t, but……)..
Under Trump’s 27.5% tariff thousands of British automotive workers were destined to lose their jobs; now those jobs won’t go.. (The US 10% allowance is within a whisker of our record 2024 exports)
The UK/EU ban on US beef/chicken was almost entirely focussed on ‘Hormones and chemical washes’ they are specifically excluded from this deal (BTW, I lived/worked in the USA and ate beef and chicken which I’m sure would not have been allowed into the UK but still tasted fine… Anyone who has ever taken their kids to the USA will have also fed them the same stuff..
The old adage about ‘devil/detail’ may apply but no-one gets exactly what they want from a trade deal and, as trade deals go, this looks OK ; bearing in mind the difference in clout that was on the table.. .
Parliament won’t be given a vote on the trade deal. That’s the sort of things they do in the supposedly “undemocratic” EU.
The Framework agreement for the US/UK Trade deal is subject to continued negotiation of details and will presumably need to be passed by the US congress. The 10% tariff appears to be the minimum, but the US has no VAT and the highest state sales tax is 7.25% in California, so an effective Federal Sales tax of 10% on imported goods is not wholly unreasonable given the US overall trade deficit position with the rest of the world although the US probably needs a VAT along with other tax hikes, rather than Tariffs to address their fiscal debt/deficit problems.
The carve outs for the auto and steel sectors are important to the UK and reportedley save ‘thousands’ of jobs UK-US deal saves ‘thousands’ of jobs in car industry.
Notably, there was also no change to the UK 2% digital services tax on US companies, which requires major firms such as Meta and Google to pay tax on their UK user revenue.
One important question that needs to be addressed is how will this effect the UK’s effort to strike an improved trade deal with the EU?