Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump have discussed the “productive negotiations” towards a UK-US “economic prosperity deal”, Downing Street has said.

The two leaders discussed a possible deal in a phone call on Sunday and agreed negotiations will “continue at pace”, according to a statement.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister spoke to president Trump this evening.

“The president opened by wishing His Majesty the King best wishes and good health.

“They discussed the productive negotiations between their respective teams on a UK-US economic prosperity deal, agreeing that these will continue at pace this week.

“Discussing Ukraine, the prime minister updated the president on the productive discussions at the meeting of the Coalition of Willing in Paris this week. The leaders agreed on the need to keep up the collective pressure on Putin.

“They agreed to stay in touch in the coming days.”

Earlier this week, Mr Trump announced a new 25% tariff on all imported cars – threatening UK producers’ largest single export market.

Signing an executive order on Wednesday, Mr Trump said the tax would kick in on 2 April – what he has called “liberation day”.

British manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce stand to be worst affected by the tariffs.

But the government has signalled it would not retaliate – mirroring its response to the tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed globally by the Trump administration earlier this month.

Tariffs are a key part of Mr Trump’s efforts to reshape global trade relations.

He plans to impose what he calls “reciprocal” taxes on “liberation day” that would match tariffs and sales taxes levied by other nations. The extent of potential tariffs and countries affected remains unclear.

He has already placed a 20% tax on all imports from China.

He also placed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10% tariff on Canadian energy products in addition to the duties on all steel and aluminium imports, including those from the UK.

The two leaders spoke last Sunday in a “brief call” about the economic prosperity deal, and again nearly three weeks ago ahead of the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Starmer and Mr Trump appeared to have a warm personal relationship when they met in the Oval Office last month.

But just a day later, the US president along with vice president JD Vance delivered a dressing down to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – marking a major shift in the US approach to Ukraine and cementing Mr Starmer’s position as a bridge between Europe and the US in the peace talks.

Mr Starmer and Mr Trump also spoke twice before they met in person.

The government plans to change the law so it can overrule Sentencing Council guidelines following a row over “two-tier justice”, Sky News understands.

The independent Sentencing Council, which sets out sentencing guidance to courts in England and Wales, has been at odds with Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood for weeks after it updated its guidance.

It said that from April, a pre-sentence report, the results of which are taken into account when considering a criminal’s sentence, will “usually be necessary” before handing out punishment for someone from an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, alongside other groups such as young adults aged 18 to 25, women and pregnant women.

Conservative shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick called the guidance “two-tier justice” and said there was “blatant bias” against Christians and straight white men, as he said it would make “a custodial sentence less likely for those from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community”.

Ms Mahmood had called on the Sentencing Council to reverse the guidance, but it refused, which Sir Keir Starmer said he was “disappointed” with, and the justice secretary called “unacceptable”.

Before the weekend, Sir Keir said “all options are on the table” over how the government might respond.

But sources have now told Sky News the Ministry of Justice plans to legislate at the “earliest opportunity” to be able to overrule sentencing guidelines.

Ministers could introduce the legislation as early as Monday so they can “push it through parliament”, so the current guidelines can be changed quickly.

Until the law is changed so the government can dismiss the Sentencing Council guidelines, the body can plough ahead with the changes as it is independent of the state.

Read more:
Sentencing Council rejects minister’s call for guidance rethink
What are pre-sentence reports and why the controversy?

In reply to Ms Mahmood’s letter calling for a reversal, the Sentencing Council’s chair, Lord Justice William Davis, said on Friday that the reforms reflect evidence of disparities in sentencing outcomes, disadvantages faced within the criminal justice system and complexities in the circumstances of individual offenders.

He said pre-sentence reports allow judges to be “better equipped” to “avoid a difference in outcome based on ethnicity”.

“The cohort of ethnic, cultural and faith minority groups may be a cohort about which judges and magistrates are less well informed,” he added.

Sky News has contacted the Sentencing Council for a comment on the potential law changes.