Britain could do slimmed down trade deal with US within months, says former minister
Britain could do a slimmed down trade deal with the United States within months, the last politician to oversee negotiations with Donald Trump’s administration over a UK-US agreement has told Sky News.
Last night Sky News revealed that leading members of the Trump administration believe a trade deal with the UK could be sealed in a matter of months.
Mr Trump has singled out Keir Starmer for praise and suggested that he wanted to change UK trade policy.
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Britain was negotiating a full Free Trade Agreement with Mr Trump during his first presidency, but this was junked by his successor President Biden.
The negotiations were overseen by then Tory trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who told Sky News that a deal could even be struck with the US before the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement is concluded.
Ms Trevelyan said about half the work on a deal had already been concluded under the Boris Johnson administration.
“I was the trade secretary just at the end of the first Trump administration, and we had already, been moving discussions, probably about halfway there. In terms of the trade negotiations.”
She said that the US can work faster than the EU on trade negotiations, and that might be concluded first.
Former trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan. Pic: Reuters
“I think absolutely that’s possible. I think the challenge with anything with the EU is you’re dealing with, you know, multiple countries who all have to agree. And the challenge with any trade deal, which is why TCA took a long time to negotiate to the level that we got, is that everyone’s pulling a little bit differently.”
On President Trump’s style, she said: “I think, realistically, because of the way Trump works, which is transactional but very determined, he’ll take decisions, big decisions.”
The negotiation between the UK and the US began in May 2020 when Liz Truss was trade secretary and lasted until the end of Mr Trump’s time in office in January 2021. Ms Trevelyan was trade secretary from September 2021 to September 2022.
Up to five chapters – areas of trade negotiation – had been completed but the most difficult, agriculture and trade, had not been sorted.
The United States has different food standards to the UK and EU, and is not currently able to sell into our market – which has previously been a big ask.
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However Ms Trevelyan said that omitting agriculture from the deal could get it over the line, providing there were sufficient other wins for the US.
She said that the UK and US trade deal could make a big difference.
“A UK-US trade move will be a big, punchy, broad ranging trade deal,” she said.
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“I think what’s important is what are we good at? What’s the UK good at? What do we want to be able to do more? Our financial services, second only in the world to the US, are fantastic.
“(You look for) lots of things where we don’t crash into each other. Really important for success in a trade deal is where you get that complementarity.
“What is it that the US has that they want to sell to us that, you know, isn’t of concern to us? So some of the conversations with California around some of their nuts and properties like that, there’s all sorts of different pulls and pushes that you work together as a whole.”
She went on: “It’ll be everything from financial services through to whisky and everything in between. The market is enormous, important issues around metals, steel and aluminium are really important ones. So, we had got caught, when I had just come into post, actually an EU tariff last time round that President Trump was putting tariffs on people around steel aluminium.”
But Lord Kim Darroch, the UK’s ambassador to the US during Donald Trump’s first presidency, said he was sceptical about a UK-US trade deal.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub, Lord Darroch said the UK’s problems stem from the fact that food and agriculture standards are higher here than they are in the US.
He explained that there are “two big regulatory schemes” in the world, one being the EU’s and the other being America’s.
“At the moment, we are still basically aligned with the EU,” he said.
“One of the objectives of the Americans would be to pull us into their regulatory system,” he adds, and – given we do more far more trade with Europe than America – “I don’t see that being in the national interest.”
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The government will look to introduce tougher laws on unlicensed drivers as part of its forthcoming road safety strategy, Sky News understands.
It comes after Sky News reported on the story of Harry Parker, who was just 14-years-old when he was hit and killed by a car on his way to his Swindon school in November 2022.
The driver of the car did not have a licence, insurance, or stop at the scene.
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But two years after Harry’s death, the Crown Prosecution Service told his parents it was dropping the charges.
It said: “We examined this case in great detail – including obtaining the advice of a forensic collision expert – and it has become clear that there is not enough evidence to demonstrate that this collision could reasonably have been avoided, and therefore that the driving was careless.”
His parents’ local MP, Will Stone, received permission from the Commons on Tuesday to introduce the Road Traffic (unlicensed drivers) Bill, that he referred to in his speech in the chamber as the “Harry Parker Bill”.
The bill would make causing death while driving without a licence or insurance a specific criminal offence after previous legislation became effectively redundant.
Labour MP Mr Stone made a speech setting out the case for changing the law in parliament on Tuesday as part of a Ten Minute Rule Bill – a motion to seek MPs’ permission to introduce a bill to make the case for a new law.
“The law in its current form is failing,” he said. “A person who does not hold a valid license has no business being behind the wheel of a car. And when they do so, they put lives at risk.
“I cannot bring back Harry, nor can I give Adam and Kelly the justice that they deserve. No legislation, no speech, no court ruling will ever be able to ease their pain. What we must do is ensure that no other family has to endure what they have been through.
“The Harry Parker Bill seeks to close the dangerous gaps in our legal system and impose real world consequences on those who choose to drive without a license. Those who choose to drive without a valid license will be deemed careless.”
Two years after Harry’s death the CPS said it was dropping the charges
MPs voted to progress the bill to be debated as part of the next stage of the parliamentary process.
It is rare for a backbench Ten Minute Rule Bill to become legislation. But Sky News now understands the government is going to adopt the Harry Parker Bill as part of its forthcoming new Road Safety Strategy.
Harry’s parents, Adam and Kelly Parker, travelled to Westminster to watch the Ten Minute Rule Bill from the public gallery.
“It was a bit surreal,” said Mr Parker. “When he actually read it out I just started crying, I welled up. It made it very, very real, how far we’re actually taking this, and it showed that people are actually really listening. It’s comforting.”
There is no current national data on the number of unlicensed drivers, though past research by the Department for Transport estimated they commit 9.3% – or nearly 1 in 10 – of all motoring offences. It was thought there could be as many as 470,000 on the roads.
Labour MP for Swindon North, Will Stone, wants the law to be changed. Pic: UK Parliament
In 2006, the Labour government introduced a new offence of causing death while driving without a licence or insurance, punishable by up to two years in prison.
But in 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that, due to the way the legislation was worded, prosecutors still had to prove the driving was at fault – thus rendering the new law fairly redundant, as a driver could then be charged by careless or dangerous driving.
The judges were concerned about otherwise faultless unlicensed drivers being charged if a drunk pedestrian fell into the road in front of them, or if someone attempted suicide by jumping out into the road.
Harry Parker’s father, Adam, believes there is ‘clearly a loophole in the rules’
The Department of Transport said: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Harry Parker.
“The government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the number of those killed and injured on our roads.”
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