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Sir Keir Starmer has called for an immediate general election after Liz Truss announced her resignation as prime minister.

The Labour leader said the Conservative Party has “shown it no longer has a mandate to govern”, adding that British people “deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos”.

“The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people,” Sir Keir said in a statement.

UK to have new PM in a week – follow Politics latest

“They do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment; Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish.”

“The British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future.

“They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future.

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“We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey echoed the call for the public to go to the polls.

“We don’t need another Conservative prime minister lurching from crisis to crisis,” he said on social media.

“We need a general election now and the Conservatives out of power.”

As did First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, who said: “A general election is now the only way to end this paralysis.”

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‘Public are entitled to a say’

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price and Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts agreed, adding: “We urgently need a general election so that the people of Wales can reject this Westminster chaos at the ballot box.”

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the events in Westminster as an “utter shambles”.

“There are no words to describe this utter shambles adequately. It’s beyond hyperbole and parody,” Ms Sturgeon said.

“Reality though is that ordinary people are paying the price. The interests of the Tory party should concern no-one right now.

“A general election is now a democratic imperative.”

Read more: Who would replace Truss as PM?

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Conservatives in the Senedd, said Ms Truss had done the “right thing” in standing down.

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Liz Truss’s rise and fall

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, agreed that Ms Truss had made “the right decision”.

“We must now move forward quickly and the new Leader and Prime Minister will have to restore stability for the good of the country,” he said in a post on social media.

While Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt told MPs she would “keep calm and carry on” and encouraged others to do the same.

Asked in the chamber about Liz Truss’s resignation and the state of the government, Ms Mordaunt – who is considered a potential successor to the PM – said: “I am going to keep calm and carry on – and I would suggest everyone else do the same.”

Across the pond, US President Joe Biden has also responded to Ms Truss’s resignation.

“The United States and the United Kingdom are strong allies and enduring friends – and that fact will never change,” he said in a statement.

Ms Truss departs Number 10 just 44 days after taking over from Boris Johnson.

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World

A conversation with historian Sir Niall Ferguson on Trump, tariffs and China

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A conversation with historian Sir Niall Ferguson on Trump, tariffs and China

👉Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim on your podcast app👈

Richard and Yalda are joined by one of the world’s most eminent historians and political commentators to discuss culture wars, trade wars, and the possibility of World War Three over Taiwan.

Sir Niall says the US may be in the stage of “buyer’s remorse” with the Trump presidency, and predicts that by this time next year, he could be “deeply underwater” in the polls.

To get in touch or to share questions for Richard and Yalda, email theworld@sky.uk

Click here to visit their YouTube channel where you can watch all the episodes.

Click here to fill in our listener survey!

Episodes of The World With Richard Engel And Yalda Hakim will be available every Wednesday on all podcast platforms.

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World

In the idyllic Cognac region of southern France, Trump’s tariffs threaten a centuries-old way of life

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In the idyllic Cognac region of southern France, Trump's tariffs threaten a centuries-old way of life

The impact of Trump’s tariffs is reaching deep into every economy.

We travelled into the French rural heartland, heading for Cognac – the home of French brandy.

It is only half the size of Surrey but its exports to America are worth €1bn a year and that trade is now severely threatened.

The first buds are out on the vines of Amy Pasquet’s vineyard.

An American, she has married into the industry and with her French husband owns JLP Cognac.

She knows more than most the bond brandy has formed between their two countries that goes back to the war.

Tariffs latest: Follow live updates

More from World

Ms Pasquet said: “A lot of the African-American soldiers had really loved their experience here and had brought back the cognac. And I think that stayed because this African-American community truly is a community and they want to drink like their grandfather did.”

The ties remain with rappers like Jay Z’s love for cognac.

However, Ms Pasquet adds: “There’s also this other community of people who have been drinking bourbon for a long time, love bourbon, but find the prices just outrageous today. So they want to try something different.”

Amy Pasquet owns JLP Cognac with her husband
Image:
Amy Pasquet owns JLP Cognac with her husband

JLP’s products were served at New York’s prestigious Met Gala.

They were preparing to launch new product lines in the US. But now that’s in doubt.

It is hard being an American in France now, Ms Pasquet says.

Her French neighbours are appalled by what US President Donald Trump is doing.

She continues: “They’re like, okay, America’s forgotten how close France and America are as far as (their) relationship is concerned. And I think that’s hurtful on both sides. I think it’s important to remember that the US is many things, and not just this one person, and there are millions of inhabitants that didn’t vote for him.”

aaa

A fresh challenge for a centuries-old tradition

Making cognac takes years, using techniques that go back centuries. In another vineyard we met Pierre Louis Giboin whose family have been doing it for more than 200 years.

In a cellar dating back to the French Revolution, barrels of oak sit under thick cobwebs, ageing the brandy.

The walls are lined with a unique black mould that thrives off the vapours of cognac.

They have seen threats come and go over those centuries, wars, weather, pestilence. But never from a country they regard as one of their oldest allies and best of customers.

Read more:
What China could do next as Trump’s tariff war
How tariffs will affect your money

Could Trump’s tariffs tip the world into recession?

Pierre Louis Giboin's family has been making cognac for centuries
Image:
Pierre Louis Giboin’s cellar dates back to the French revolution

Mr Trump’s tariffs, says Mr Giboin, now threaten a way of life.

“It’s at the end of like very good times in the Cognac region. It’s been like 10 years when everything’s been perfect, we have good harvest, we sell really easily all the stock, but now I mean it’s the end.”

Ms Pasquet and Mr Giboin are unusual.

Most cognac makers sell their produce through the drink’s four big houses, Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martell and Courvoisier.

Some have been told the amounts they can sell have been drastically reduced.

Independents though like them must find new markets if the tariff threat persists.

Confusion away from the chaos

Outside in the dappled light of a Cognac evening Mr Giboin and I toast glasses of pineau – the diluted form of cognac drunk as an aperitif.

In this idyllic corner of France, a world away from Washington, Mr Trump’s trade war on Europe simply makes no sense.

“He’s like angry against the whole world and the way he talks like that Europe the EU was made against the US to cheat on the US. It’s just crazy to think like this,” Mr Giboin says.

It’s not just what Mr Trump’s done. It’s how Europe now strikes back that concerns the French. And it’s not just in Cognac where they’re concerned

France exports more than €2bn worth of wine to America.

In the heart of the Bordeaux wine region, Sylvie Courselle’s family have been making wine since the 1940s at their Chateau Thieuley vineyard.

It’s bottling season but they can’t prepare the wine headed for America while everything is up in the air.

Showing me the unused reels of US labels for her wine she told me she was losing sleep over the uncertainty.

Later she was meeting with her American distributors.

Gerry Keogh sells Ms Courselle’s wine across the US.

He says the entire industry is reeling

Sylvie Courselle with distributers
Image:
Sylvie Courselle with distributers

The Chateau Thieuley vineyard in the Bordeaux wine region
Image:
The Chateau Thieuley vineyard in the Bordeaux wine region

“I think it’s like anything. You don’t really believe it’s happening. And even when you’re in the midst of it, it was kind of like 9/11.

“You’re like… This is actually happening. It’s unbelievable. And when you start seeing the repercussions from the stock market, et cetera, and how it’s impacting every level, it’s quite shocking.”

They know the crisis is far from over and could now escalate.

“We feel stuck in the middle of this commercial war and we don’t have the weapons to fight, I think,” Ms Courselle said.

It is, she says, very stressful.

Jerry Keogh
Image:
Gerry Keogh

aaaaa

The histories of America and France have been intertwined for centuries through revolutions against tyranny and two wars fighting for liberty.

America used to call France its oldest ally, but under Donald Trump its now seen here as turning on France and the rest of Europe in a reckless and unjustified trade war.

It is all doing enormous harm to relations between the US and its European allies.

How Europe now decides to retaliate will help determine the extent of that damage.

Continue Reading

World

In the idyllic Cognac region of southern France, Trump’s tariffs threaten a centuries-old way of life

Published

on

By

In the idyllic Cognac region of southern France, Trump's tariffs threaten a centuries-old way of life

The impact of Trump’s tariffs is reaching deep into every economy.

We travelled into the French rural heartland, heading for Cognac – the home of French brandy.

It is only half the size of Surrey but its exports to America are worth €1bn a year and that trade is now severely threatened.

The first buds are out on the vines of Amy Pasquet’s vineyard.

An American, she has married into the industry and with her French husband owns JLP Cognac.

She knows more than most the bond brandy has formed between their two countries that goes back to the war.

Tariffs latest: Follow live updates

More from World

Ms Pasquet said: “A lot of the African-American soldiers had really loved their experience here and had brought back the cognac. And I think that stayed because this African-American community truly is a community. and they want to drink like their grandfather did.”

The ties remain with rappers like Jay Z’s love for cognac.

However, Ms Pasquet adds: “There’s also this other community of people who have been drinking bourbon for a long time, love bourbon, but find the prices just outrageous today. So they want to try something different.”

Amy Pasquet owns JLP Cognac with her husband
Image:
Amy Pasquet owns JLP Cognac with her husband

JLP’s products were served at New York’s prestigious Met Gala.

They were preparing to launch new product lines in the US. But now that’s in doubt.

It is hard being an American in France now, Ms Pasquet says.

Her French neighbours are appalled by what US President Donald Trump is doing.

She continues: “They’re like, okay, America’s forgotten how close France and America are as far as (their) relationship is concerned. And I think that’s hurtful on both sides. I think it’s important to remember that the US is many things, and not just this one person, and there are millions of inhabitants that didn’t vote for him.”

aaa

A fresh challenge for a centuries-old tradition

Making cognac takes years, using techniques that go back centuries. In another vineyard we met Pierre Louis Giboin whose family have been doing it for more than 200 years.

In a cellar dating back to the French Revolution, barrels of oak sit under thick cobwebs, ageing the brandy.

The walls are lined with a unique black mould that thrives off the vapours of cognac.

They have seen threats come and go over those centuries, wars, weather, pestilence. But never from a country they regard as one of their oldest allies and best of customers.

Read more:
What China could do next as Trump’s tariff war
How tariffs will affect your money

Could Trump’s tariffs tip the world into recession?

Pierre Louis Giboin's family has been making cognac for centuries
Image:
Pierre Louis Giboin’s cellar dates back to the French revolution

Mr Trump’s tariffs, says Mr Giboin, now threaten a way of life.

“It’s at the end of like very good times in the Cognac region. It’s been like 10 years when everything’s been perfect, we have good harvest, we sell really easily all the stock, but now I mean it’s the end.”

Ms Pasquet and Mr Giboin are unusual.

Most cognac makers sell their produce through the drink’s four big houses, Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martell and Courvoisier.

Some have been told the amounts they can sell have been drastically reduced.

Independents though like them must find new markets if the tariff threat persists.

Confusion away from the chaos

Outside in the dappled light of a Cognac evening Mr Giboin and I toast glasses of pineau – the diluted form of cognac drunk as an aperitif.

In this idyllic corner of France, a world away from Washington, Mr Trump’s trade war on Europe simply makes no sense.

“He’s like angry against the whole world and the way he talks like that Europe the EU was made against the US to cheat on the US. It’s just crazy to think like this,” Mr Giboin says.

It’s not just what Mr Trump’s done. It’s how Europe now strikes back that concerns the French. And it’s not just in Cognac where they’re concerned

France exports more than €2bn worth of wine to America.

In the heart of the Bordeaux wine region, Sylvie Courselle’s family have been making wine since the 1940s at their Chateau Thieuley vineyard.

It’s bottling season but they can’t prepare the wine headed for America while everything is up in the air.

Showing me the unused reels of US labels for her wine she told me she was losing sleep over the uncertainty.

Later she was meeting with her American distributors.

Gerry Keogh sells Ms Courselle’s wine across the US.

He says the entire industry is reeling

Sylvie Courselle with distributers
Image:
Sylvie Courselle with distributers

The Chateau Thieuley vineyard in the Bordeaux wine region
Image:
The Chateau Thieuley vineyard in the Bordeaux wine region

“I think it’s like anything. You don’t really believe it’s happening. And even when you’re in the midst of it, it was kind of like 9/11.

“You’re like… This is actually happening. It’s unbelievable. And when you start seeing the repercussions from the stock market, et cetera, and how it’s impacting every level, it’s quite shocking.”

They know the crisis is far from over and could now escalate.

“We feel stuck in the middle of this commercial war and we don’t have the weapons to fight, I think,” Ms Courselle said.

It is, she says, very stressful.

Jerry Keogh
Image:
Gerry Keogh

aaaaa

The histories of America and France have been intertwined for centuries through revolutions against tyranny and two wars fighting for liberty.

America used to call France its oldest ally, but under Mr Trump it is now being as turned on, as France, along with the rest of Europe, finds itself in what many would argue is a reckless and unjustified trade war.

It is all doing enormous harm to relations between the US and its European allies.

How Europe now decides to retaliate will help determine the extent of that damage.

Continue Reading

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