Sir Keir Starmer needs to reassure the public more over tariffs – and tell them Donald Trump is wrong, Harriet Harman has said.

Speaking to Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer said ministers were avoiding the “elephant in the room, which is that Trump is wrong on this, we don’t agree with him”.

The US president placed 10% tariffs on all UK goods exported to the US, and while other countries were much worse hit, the FTSE 100 fell by about 1,000 after Mr Trump’s “liberation day” announcement last week.

It then kicked off its best day in five years on Thursday after Mr Trump decided to defer the worst of his tariffs for 90 days. Financial markets around the world reacted similarly.

Baroness Harman said there was no need for “gratuitous insults” but that the prime minister needed to “own the narrative” because there is “a danger” if the leader of the country is not saying what is actually happening.

A minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Baroness Harman said that when the US put steel tariffs on imported steel in 2002, Mr Blair “did say ‘this is unacceptable, this is wrong, it’s unjustified, it is breaching the World Trade Organisation rules'”.

“He was able to say ‘we do not believe this is how you should be within the world organisation and Bush has got it wrong’,” she added

“I think it feels as if there’s a kind of restricted vocabulary amongst ministers at the moment where they are speaking in code.”

The Labour peer said she also thought Sir Keir should be “being more positive and giving reassurance”.

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She acknowledged there was “a lot of criticism” in the first six months of Labour’s tenure and the government “didn’t help the economy by rather talking it down”.

There is a danger of being “too pessimistic”, she said, and Sir Keir needs to be “realistic”.

“But I think that giving people reassurances – we’re not going to panic, we’re not going to make mistakes by knee-jerk retaliation,” she said.

“I think the story needs to be told to the country that this is a really difficult problem and Trump has caused it and he is wrong to do this, but we will be okay with this government.

“And I think he’s entitled to say that, and I think people will want to hear that.”

‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Jordan Belfort has told Sky News there’s “no way” Donald Trump is guilty of insider trading or market manipulation.

Opponents say the president has questions to answer after he said it was a “great time to buy” shares – four hours before the stock market surged on Wednesday when he paused tariffs.

Mr Belfort told Gillian Joseph the fact Mr Trump made the statement on social media meant it was public, rather than him tipping off a few people.

Tariffs latest: Trump – ‘everything will be beautiful in the end’

Speaking on The World programme, Mr Belfort said: “I personally don’t find it overly suspicious. Especially since he’s told it to everybody at once.

“If he hadn’t said anything and told five of his best friends ‘I’m gonna ease this tariff situation – you should be buying’, that would be illegal.”

Insider trading is when people take advantage of non-public information to buy or sell shares and make a gain.

The former stockbroker was famously played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film about his early life and admitted crimes related to stock manipulation.

Mr Belfort said Mr Trump’s post was just repeating what the president had said previously, and that buying when share prices plunge is a well-known investment move.

“He had been saying that all along [to buy], it wasn’t the only time he’d said that,” said Mr Belfort.

“[Treasury] Secretary Bessent had been saying that too. It’s a really basic piece of advice.”

Stock markets around the world plunged dramatically on Monday due to the start of America’s wide-ranging tariffs on imports from around the world.

The world economy was rattled again just two days later when the president said nearly all of the taxes would go on hold for 90 days.

The key S&P 500 index jumped nearly 10% – a huge daily increase.

Rival Democrat politicians say Mr Trump‘s encouragement to buy raises “grave ethics concerns”.

Some are calling for an urgent inquiry into whether any of his family or administration officials benefited by dealing in the stock market ahead of time.

The White House said the president’s post was simply reassuring Americans “about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fearmongering”.

Mr Belfort accused Democrat figures of trying to “earn brownie points with the media and their party”.

‘Not gonna be pretty’

Despite the mid-week surge, turbulence in stock markets appears far from over – chiefly because China and the US remain locked in a tariffs stare down.

American indexes closed down again on Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei fell about 5% early on Friday, and Hong Kong stocks are heading for their worst week since 2008.

Gold meanwhile, considered a “safe haven” asset, has climbed to a record price and earlier today passed the $3,200/oz level for the first time.

Mr Belfort told Sky News that while he was against tariffs generally, President Trump’s dramatic intervention was necessary as the US has an “insane” trade imbalance and imports far more than it exports.

“The United States has been drained of its wealth, drained of its factories,” he said.

“It’s not gonna be pretty,” added Mr Belfort. “There’s going to be pain – but the path we were on before is simply unsustainable. It had to change.”

He said he was sceptical over fears the tariffs will hit US consumers hard, with some predicting goods – including popular items such as the iPhone – could jump in price if costs are passed on.

The former trader said he believes firms would shift production from China, which is subject to a tariff of more than 100%, to places such as India, and that exemptions would eventually be agreed.

He also gave the thumbs up to Elon Musk‘s controversial government efficiency role which has forced thousands of jobs cut.

Read more:
China ready for trade war and it’s unclear Trump knows what he’s taking on
Trump has blinked – but it’s not the markets that forced him to act

“I love what is being done because the amount of abuse and waste and fraud, it’s absolutely insane,” said Mr Belfort.

“It’s a great thing that’s happening. Obama talked about doing it, Clinton tried it; this is not a new idea to try to make the government more efficient.”

If Mr Musk leaves or quits in the near future, as is rumoured, Mr Belfort said the world’s richest man has installed “some very seasoned business people that really care about the country”.

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With markets tumbling again, President Trump has been meeting his cabinet – where more questions were put to him over his turbulent tariff plan. On Day 82, US correspondents Mark Stone and James Matthews discuss what happened.

Plus, Mark has been on the road in Wisconsin and Minnesota, speaking to people caught up in the crossfire of the trade war.

If you’ve got a question you’d like James, Martha, and Mark to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

Don’t forget, you can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.