Kemi Badenoch (Image: Getty)
Kemi Badenoch has urged Sir Keir Starmer to make more of Britain’s Brexit freedoms rather than “sitting back” and waiting for things to happen amid global economic turmoil. The Tory leader said the Prime Minister should be going full throttle to boost trade with other nations while the US and China slug it out in a massive tariffs war.
Instead, she said, he had been wasting time “congratulating himself” that the UK had been hit less hard by Donald Trump’s tariffs blitzkrieg. The US president slapped a universal 10% levy, among the lowest imposed by Mr Trump, on British imports as well as 25% tariffs on the UK car and steel industries. “Those tariffs are lower because of Brexit, because we left the European Union,” she said.
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Political editor Martyn Brown spoke to Kemi Badenoch following a school visit (Image: Rowan Griffiths/Daily Express)
Mrs Badenoch, the former trade secretary when the Conservatives were in government, helped negotiate Britain joining a ￡9trillion Pacific-wide trading bloc – regarded as the biggest post-Brexit prize to date.
She says Sir Keir should be beating down the doors to member nations – including Australia, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam – to do business.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Express during a campaign visit in Evesham, Worcestershire, Mrs Badenoch said: Keir Starmer is congratulating himself on getting better tariffs than other countries.
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“Those tariffs are lower because of Brexit, because we left the European Union.
“We have an independent trade policy.
“He now needs to use that independent trade policy to go and collaborate with countries in CPTPP – that’s the deal I negotiated."
The CPTPP is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
She added: “It’s got 12 countries in it – Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia – all of them are feeling the brunt of Trump’s tariffs.
“We can work with those people to make sure that the trade between our countries is even easier, even better, rather than just sitting back and allowing it to happen, which I think is what Labour are doing.”
Her remarks came as the US and China trade war intensified, with the communist superpower imposing a colossal 84% tariff on American goods.
This was in retaliation to Mr Trump slapping a gargantuan 104% tariff on Beijing.
Mrs Badenoch said the US president had made the “wrong decision”, which has plunged financial markets into turmoil.
“This is going to be bad for the global economy. It has been done before. It didn’t work. I remember watching President Reagan saying that the tariffs in the 1930s are what made the Great Depression, and we don’t want to see that.
“I think President Trump has made the wrong decision. But in particular, Britain is a trading nation.
“We became prosperous through trade, and that’s one of the things that we need Labour to start focusing on.
“We are in a worse position now because of the decisions that they made. We’re in a worse position to weather tariffs.”
There have been concerns that the trade war could result in the UK coming closer into China’s orbit, something Mrs Badenoch warns against.
“China is a serious economic threat, and we need to be very careful about overreliance on them,” she said.
“If you rely on China, you’re going to end up being subservient to China.
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Kemi Badenoch urged Keir Starmer to act quickly to save British steel (Image: Rowan Griffiths/Daily Express)
“We should be trading with all countries and make sure that we’re not overly reliant on one partner.”
Mrs Badenoch also urged the Prime Minister to act quickly to save British Steel.
Both Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have insisted “all options” remain on the table over the company’s future as fears mount over its plant in Scunthorpe, owned by Chinese firm Jingye.
Jingye has cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The decision has led to fears the plant, one of the last blast furnaces left operating in Britain, could be forced to close as early as next month.
Speaking to reporters in Bedfordshire, Ms Reeves suggested nationalisation could be an option to secure the future of British Steel in Scunthorpe, which was purchased by Jingye out of receivership in 2020.
“All options remain on the table regarding British Steel,” she said.
“This government recognises the importance of those jobs in Scunthorpe and in the local area, and we’re doing everything we can to preserve those jobs and to support those communities.
“We’re in conversation both with the owners and with the trade unions to find a deal."
The Chancellor said the Government was in “active discussions now with both the owners and the trade unions” about securing access to the raw materials needed to run the blast furnaces.
Mrs Badenoch said she believed Sir Keir would choose nationalisation, which could cost taxpayers ￡2billion, because it would be the “easiest” option.
“I suspect he’s just going to nationalise, which is the easiest but also the most expensive option, because it means that we’re going to be paying for steel, she said.
“If it’s not profitable, we’re going to be paying for it. But at the end of the day, we must have steel production in the UK.
“We cannot lose that capacity. It’s part of national resilience. It’s part of national security. So I expect them to work hard with British Steel to try and make sure that they get a deal that works for the people in Scunthorpe and around link insurance surrounding areas, but one which is viable for steel production for the future.”
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Fears over the Scunthorpe plant’s future intensified after talks between the Government and Jingye broke down last week. The Chinese company rejected a ￡500million offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
The Government offered the same amount to Tata Steel, the owner of the steelworks in Port Talbot, which shut down both of its blast furnaces last year and is replacing them with electric arc furnace as part of its transition to greener production methods.