The UK could be spared the impact of Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariff increases on foreign imports, a US governor has told Sky News.

In the aftermath of the Republican candidate’s decisive election win over Kamala Harris this week, attention is turning to what the former president will do on his return to the White House.

Mr Trump has said he wants to raise tariffs – taxes on imported products – on goods from around the world by 10%, rising to 60% on goods from China, as part of his plan to protect US industries.

But there are fears in foreign capitals about what this could do to their economies. Goldman Sachs has downgraded its forecast for the UK’s economic growth next year from 1.6% to 1.4%, while EU officials are anticipating a reduction in exports to the US of €150bn (£125bn).

However, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy – a Democrat – says he believes Mr Trump may consider not including the UK in the tariff plans.

Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the governor said he cannot speak for the president-elect but he has a “good relationship” with him.

His gut feeling is that Mr Trump will not impose tariffs on goods from allies like the UK. “But if I’m China, I’m fastening my seatbelt right now,” he said.

Mr Murphy said that Mr Trump may look favourably at the UK after its departure from the European Union.

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The president-elect is considering offering the UK a special deal that would exempt British exports from billions of pounds of tariffs, according to The Telegraph.

“Donald Trump (has) some sympathy with the renegade who has courage,” Mr Murphy continued. “I think there’s some of that. I think that’s a card that can be played. We’ll see.”

Asked about whether UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer can build a rapport with the incoming president, Mr Murphy said: “I’ve been able to find common ground with President Trump, and I’m a proud progressive, although I’m a cold-blooded capitalist, which is probably the part of me that President Trump resonates with.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is “confident” trade flows with the United States will continue despite the tariff proposal.

Will Brexit help UK in Trump trade talks?

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

@joncraig

Could Brexit help Sir Keir Starmer and the UK government in trade negotiations with President Trump – who calls himself “tariff man” – and the US?

The suggestion – ironic, given the PM’s hostility to Brexit and his pledge for a “reset” with the EU – has been made by a Trump ally and confidant, albeit a leading Democrat.

The claim comes from Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey, in an interview for Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News.

Murphy says he has a good relationship with Trump, who has a palatial home he calls the Summer White House, a 500-acre estate and a golf club at Bedminster, New Jersey, just 45 minutes from Trump Tower in New York.

He says his “gut feeling” is that Trump has sympathy with the UK for having the courage to pull out of the EU, “this big bureaucratic blob” and “that’s a card that can be played” by the UK in trade talks.

Really? As Trevor politely pointed out, that might benefit the UK if the prime minister was Nigel Farage rather than Sir Keir.

Mr Farage, however, speaking at a Reform UK regional conference in Exeter, described Trump as a “pro-British American president” who’d give the UK “potentially huge opportunities”.

But there’s one problem, according to the Reform UK leader. Favours from Trump will only come, he claims, “if we can overcome the difficulties that the whole of the cabinet have been rude about him”.

You can watch the full interview with Governor Phil Murphy as well as other guests on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am.

Thousands of Bolt drivers won their legal claim to be recognised as workers, securing rights to paid holidays and a minimum wage.

After the landmark ruling, handed down by an employment tribunal on Friday, law firm Leigh Day said the compensation owed to the 15,000 drivers they represent could be worth more than £200m.

The tribunal determined that the relationship between Bolt and its drivers does not constitute self-employment, as claimed by Bolt, but rather an employment arrangement, granting the drivers essential worker protections under employment law.

It affects all of the 100,000-plus drivers who take on work through the Bolt ride hailing app, Leigh Day said.

This decision was reached following a three-week hearing in September 2024.

Leigh Day, who also represented Uber drivers in a similar successful claim in 2021, contends that each Bolt driver could be entitled to over £15,000 in backdated compensation for underpayment and unpaid holiday pay.

The ruling impacts over 100,000 drivers using Bolt’s private hire hailing app, who can now seek worker status.

Ahead of the hearing, Bolt announced it would start offering holiday pay and the national living wage from August 2024.

The tribunal ruled drivers must be compensated not only for trips but also for time spent logged into the app, provided they are not logged into other private hire apps simultaneously.

Further hearings are scheduled to determine the exact compensation amounts for the affected drivers.

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Leigh Day employment solicitor Charlotte Pettman said the ruling marks a significant step forward in securing fair treatment for gig economy workers.

“We are very pleased that the employment tribunal has found in favour of our Bolt driver clients,” Ms Pettman said.

“This judgment confirms that gig economy operators cannot continue to falsely classify their workers as independent contractors running their own business to avoid providing the rights those workers are properly entitled to.”

“We call on Bolt to compensate our clients without further delay,” she added.

Bolt, which has its headquarters in Estonia, has yet to comment on the tribunal’s decision.

A parallel claim on behalf of hundreds of Ola drivers is due to be heard by the London Central Employment Tribunal from Tuesday. It is scheduled to last for eight days.

The advisory firm which managed the insolvency of Bulb Energy in 2021 is kicking off a hunt for new backers in a process that could value it at about $2bn (£1.5bn).

Sky News has learnt that Teneo, which is based in the US, has begun approaching prospective investors in recent days to gauge their appetite to buy a major stake in the company.

One private equity source said Teneo was working with advisers, said to be Guggenheim Partners, on the process.

Teneo has become a sprawling advisory firm, spanning public relations, restructuring and other areas of corporate consulting and strategic advice.

It employs hundreds of people in London, with clients including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the DIY retailer Kingfisher and Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the global buyout firm.

The company has been backed by CVC Capital Partners, the private equity backer of Six Nations Rugby, since 2019.

Prior to that, BC Partners, another investor, owned a stake in the business.

Teneo has grown rapidly through a string of acquisitions, the most notable of which was the purchase in 2021 of Deloitte’s UK restructuring arm.

Since then, the division has worked on the special administration of the collapsed energy retailer Bulb – the first such process of its kind in the UK – and the insolvency of the UK arm of Russian bank VTB, which was hit by the imposition of sanctions following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Teneo has also bought a number of smaller restructuring firms, including Goldin Associates in the US and Credo in the UK.

CVC is understood to own a majority stake in Teneo, and it was unclear on Friday whether it would seek to offload all of its interest or remain as a shareholder after any new investor backs the business.

A number of parties are understood to have begun being sounded out, with one of those approached saying that Teneo’s growth trajectory meant that it was likely to attract a significant level of interest.

The process is unlikely to conclude until sometime next year, they said.

Teneo is understood to be on track for a record year in financial terms, with its financial advisory business driving a significant proportion of its improvement in revenue and profit.

It is chaired by Ursula Burns, the former chairwoman of Xerox Corporation and one of the most prominent Black businesswomen in the US.

The company was founded by Declan Kelly, an influential adviser to numerous American CEOs who was forced to resign in 2021 following allegations of drunken misconduct at a concert in California.

News of the search for new backers to aid Teneo’s continued international growth comes amid a hot streak for deals involving professional services firms.

In Britain, Grant Thornton, the accountancy firm, is exploring the sale of a big stake, with a small number of bidders still in talks.

Evelyn Partners is in discussions to sell its accountancy arm, while Cooper Parry, another player in the sector, is also up for sale.

CVC declined to comment.