Keir Starmer has declared that “nobody wins from a trade war” in an apparent warning to US president Donald Trump.
The prime minister’s comments came after the government announced it will relax rules around electric vehicles, with carmakers affected by Trump’s tariffs.
Starmer said there is “no doubt” the challenge that tariffs put forward by the United States bring, but he added: “This is a moment for cool heads.”
The PM commented: “Nobody wins from a trade war — you know that, but it’s also a moment for urgency.
“Because we’ve got to rise together as a nation to the great challenge of our age — and it is the great challenge of our age — which is to renew Britain so we are stable in this era of global instability.”
Read the prime minister’s full speech below.
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Can I just say a big thank you to the entire workforce here. Some of you are here with us this afternoon. I just want to say thank you for showing us what you do. We have been able to see some of the skill and experience that you put into this incredible product, years and years in the making and the technology.
But thank you also for making us proud to be British, because as each car rolls off here, that is rolling off your production line. That is your commitment, your toil, your work your professionalism. But it is then a product which you should be rightly proud of, and we are really proud of as a country.
I know how much you put into that, and I want you to know just how much we appreciate what you do.
Thank you for everyone for joining us this afternoon.
Jaguar Land Rover, our leading exporter of goods, employing thousands of people across the West Midlands and beyond.
That proud symbol of British engineering brilliance. And brilliance is the right word. It is our industrial heritage, but also in my strongly held view, it is our industrial future, not just our heritage.
My message to you is simple: these are challenging times, but we have chosen to come here because we are going to back you to the hilt.
I think it’s really significant that after the announcement on Wednesday, we had Adrian with us in Downing Street at 7 o’clock the next morning, and here we are on Monday, so read into that a statement of intent because it is a statement of intent about how important this is for you, for us and for the country.
As Rachel has said, there is no doubt about the challenge, but this is a moment for cool heads.
No one wins from a trade war.
But it is also a moment for urgency.
Because we have to rise, together as nation to the great challenge of our age, and it is the great challenge to renew Britain so that we are secure in this era of global instability.
Nobody is pretending that tariffs are good news. You know that better than anyone.
25% tariffs on automative exports. 10% on other goods.
That is a huge challenge to our future. The global economic consequences could be profound. But this moment has also made something very clear.
That this is not a passing phase. And just as we’ve seen with our national security and defence, particularly in relation to the war in Ukraine, now with our commerce and trade,
This is a changing and completely new world.
An era where old assumptions, long taken for granted simply no longer apply.
Before the election – I called it an age of insecurity. And that is the right phrase. Insecurity. Because that’s how this is felt in the lives of working people. Insecurity and worry for builders, for carers, for nursers, for factory workers like people here in Coventry, working harder and harder for the pound in their pocket, yet watching this rising tide of insecurity threaten to sweep away the things we cherish in our communities.
Trust me – I know people will be feeling that right now.
But to those people, I say, we have your back.
This government will not just sit back and hope.
That is how politics has failed you in recent years.
Attempting to manage crises without fundamental change just leads to managed decline.
So no – we’re going to seize the possibilities.
Fight for the future. On defence spending, on AI, on clean British energy and on manufacturing, including car building.
Make those forces work for Britain. Rewire our economy and our state so that once again they serve the interests of working people.
This is why we are rewiring the state completely.
Ripping up the regulation that stops it being a force for good.
Building new homes, new towns, new infrastructure.
Accelerating the investment that will finally unlock the potential of every community.
And let me be really clear as well. Our future is in our hands.
And so of course – we will keep calm and fight for the best deal with the US and we have been discussing that intensely in the last few days.
But we’re also going to work with our key partners to reduce barriers to trade across the globe.
Accelerate trade deals with the rest of the world and champion the cause of free and open trade – right across the globe. And just like car building, that has always been our heritage – and we won’t turn our backs on it now.
And look, when it comes to the US, I will only strike a deal if it is in the national interest. If it is the right thing to do for our security. If it protects the pound in the pocket that working people, across our country, work so hard to earn for their family.
That is my priority. That is always my priority. Strength abroad – security and renewal at home.
And on that journey of renewal we take another step today with our car industry.
You know, there are people in this country who love to talk down our manufacturing. They say – we don’t make anything important anymore. ‘That’s not Britain’. Well – I would invite anyone who thinks like that to come here and see what you do in this factory.
Anyone who is talking down manufacturing. Come here to Jaguar Land Rover and see what you are doing and they wouldn’t say that again.
Because just as I’ve said, when we were going around earlier, what I saw made me proud.
And I hope that if I feel proud of what you are doing, you are entitled to feel proud of what you are doing.
This is British brilliance in the flesh.
You’re making cars here – but you’re also representing our country with each car as it departs. That’s the pride that always goes with making things.
And I’ve said it many times before, but I will say it again: my dad worked in a factory. He was an engineer. He made things with his hands. And he taught me as I was growing up, you should value the things that we make.
And that’s what brilliant about manufacturing. And manufacturing shapes the identity of a place. This place, and of a community and a country. And that’s how it gets in your blood.
Which is why electric vehicles are so important. Yes – of course it’s about the climate and you won’t hear me undermining the urgency of that cause.
But it’s also about taking the pride, the heritage, the identity of places like this and securing it for the future.
That’s what the previous government never understood. The link between manufacturing and who we are as a country.
But those days are over. They are finished. This is a government of industrial renewal.
Because my choice, in this volatile world is to back British brilliance.
I believe that British car companies should be at the forefront of the electric revolution. This is a race we belong in.
And so I think EV targets are a good thing.
They are good for the climate. Good for business certainty and investment. Good for British manufacturing.
But I accept – those targets have to work for British manufacturers.
And I don’t want British firms, like this one put in a position where you have to pay a hefty fine or buy credits from foreign EV companies.
So today – we’re going to introduce much more flexibility into EV mandates.
We’re going to help car companies based in Britain reach the targets in a way that supports growth.
We’re going to cut any fines – which I do not want or expect to see – by 20% and any money that is raised – would be invested directly back into support for the British car industry.
We’re also going to take action on hybrids because these cars make a massive difference to reducing emissions.
I mean, if you drive a Toyota Prius around town. Or, perhaps if you work here, a Range Rover you probably spend a lot of the time in electric mode. So I think for these vehicles a 2030 ban is too soon. So we’ll push that back to 2035 – for all hybrids. That’s a new step we are taking and a new announcement today.
And because we’re not ideological about how we cut carbon emissions we’ll also make sure that cleaner, efficient, petrol cars sold before 2030 count towards your EV mandate. That will be good for British car manufacturers like this one.
As Rachel has said, we are also putting £2.3 billion pounds into the British car industry giving people tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year to help them switch to electric.
Improving charging infrastructure. That is a massive factor when people are thinking about switching and our approach means we are seeing a new public charging point popping up – every half an hour.
Because this is the moment when we back British business and charge up the electric revolution.
British electric cars running off clean British power, made by British workers.
British cars for British workers!
And as you know by the way switching to electric can also save you up to £1100 a year so if we get this right it can help the cost of living as well.
But look – it’s not just our car industry we need to back.
In the coming days and weeks, we are going to use industrial policy to shelter British business from the storm.
Take our life sciences sector, another shining example of British brilliance. An absolutely pivotal part of our export economy. We’re going to back them, as well.
We’re going to rip up the red tape. Cut the stifling bureaucracy that slows down clinical trials. Now Britain used to be better at this but we’ve taken our foot off the pedal.
The latest data says it takes over 250 days to set up a clinical trial. I’m going to slash that to 150.
And on top of that, I can also announce – a new investment up to £600 million in a new Health Data Research Service. A welcome partnership with the Wellcome Trust strengthening the genome cluster in Cambridge.
Making sure that patient data in our NHS is unlocked for the public good. An opportunity for growth – but more importantly to save lives with cutting edge medicine and Britain is so good at this.
We saw that in the pandemic. And we now need to pick up the pace again. This country has never waited around for history to shape us. We have shaped history – and we will do so again now.
Take our future into our hands. Do everything necessary to defend our national interest.
Strengthen our alliances, increase our defence power, support our businesses, jobs and workers.
Rebuild, in defiance of a volatile world our industrial strength.
That is the purpose of this Government. Security and renewal. The world may be changing but we are driving forward securing our future with a clear Plan for Change.
Thank you.
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