Connect with us

Published

on

Rishi Sunak has sounded a cautious note about the prospects of signing Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal, saying it is “not a given”.

Speaking to reporters as he travelled to the G20 in Delhi, the prime minister said he would “check in” with Narendra Modi about the progress towards a free trade agreement.

But he played down the prospects of an imminent agreement, with hopes of signing it off on this – his first trip to India in office – seeming to have faded.

There are now hopes that after twelve rounds of negotiations, the two leaders may be able to reach agreement on another visit to India which is being discussed for later this year.

Mr Sunak said: “Without question, India is going to be one of the most significant countries geopolitically over the next years and decades and it’s vitally important for the UK to deepen our ties, particularly economically and more broadly, with India.

“So that’s why we’ve been working towards an ambitious and comprehensive free trade deal, but it’s not a given.

“These things are a lot of work and a lot of time. That’s why I’ve never put an artificial deadline on these trade deals, I’ve always said we shouldn’t sacrifice quality for speed. And we need to end up with something that works genuinely for both sides.

More on India

PM confirms RAF planes will fly over the Black Sea – politics latest

“Of course, every time I see Prime Minister Modi, it’s something we check in at, but that’s not the main purpose of this trip. There are lots of other things we’re going to be discussing.”

Back at home, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly defended the speed of trade deal negotiations with India, saying they were progressing “quicker” than talks with the EU.

“Our trade negotiations with India have actually progressed quicker than other trade negotiations, including the EU’s trade negotiations with India,” he said.

“We’ve always said we want to get the right trade deal with India because it’s an incredibly important partner, not just rush it through.

“We’ve got to recognise that influence… takes time.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

James Cleverly on India trade deal 

He also told Sky News’s Niall Paterson the UK needs to “remind the world” that the war in Ukraine is an issue for those outside Europe. India has historic ties with Russia and has so far refused to denounce its invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Sunak will have a one-on-one meeting with Mr Modi on Saturday. He told reporters travelling with him that visiting India is “special” and “near and dear” to him, adding that he had been described by commentators as “India’s son-in-law.”

But a government source told Sky News that the “trickiest” issues in the deal are yet to be agreed. One of the issues is understood to be visas for Indian workers to come to the UK.

Trade deals typically include provisions for short-term business visas, but Mr Sunak has been clear that the UK’s points-based immigration policy will not change.

The prime minister said yesterday that “immigration is a separate issue” from trade and business, and that he believes net migration is “too high”.

A youth mobility scheme for 3,000 Indian workers per year to come to the UK was announced last year, but ministers have also announced plans to tighten rules for foreign students and their dependents, for which Indians are now the largest group.

Trade talks are understood to have focused on India lowering tariffs for British exports, including cars and Scotch whisky – for which India is the world’s biggest market.

But Mr Sunak has rejected the approach of his predecessor Boris Johnson and Liz Truss who set a deadline for a deal by Diwali in October last year.

He and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch have told cabinet colleagues they do not want a simple deal on goods, but a comprehensive deal which tackles issues around services.

The UK is said to be pushing for greater intellectual property rights for companies trading in India, where pharmaceutical companies produce cheap, generic drugs.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Why is an India-UK deal important?

It would be the first free trade deal India has done with a European country, and a coup for both leaders, who are facing elections next year.

Trade with India, Britain’s twelfth biggest trading partner, is worth £36bn a year, and supporters of a deal say it could open a big new market for British firms.

But key questions surround how it would work. Sam Lowe of Flint Global, who served on the UK’s trade advisory group, said high-level compromises were needed.

He said: “The negotiations are in a holding pattern at the moment, and what’s probably required now is senior political intervention from Sunak and Modi to change the red lines.

Read more:
A trade deal between the UK and India isn’t guaranteed any time soon – and this is why
India: Sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims on the rise

“Intuitively, they should be able to reach an agreement. India has done trade deals with Australia and the UAE and it’s negotiating with the EU and Canada, at the moment.

“But only on term it deems acceptable, and that comes with challenges for UK firms, they may not get everything they want in terms of access to India.”

How firms would qualify for lower tariffs – the “rules of origin” regulations about how much of the product needs to be produced in the UK, and what paperwork firms will need – are yet to be finalised. These decisions will “matter hugely for businesses in terms of whether the benefits of the trade deal are real or not”, Mr Lowe said.

Indian ministers have sounded much more optimistic about a trade deal being done this year.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told a conference in Delhi last month, shortly after a visit by Ms Badenoch, that “I won’t be wrong in saying a free trade agreement is very close”.

Continue Reading

Politics

TON’s UAE ‘golden visa’ mishap shows why legal reviews matter

Published

on

By

TON’s UAE ‘golden visa’ mishap shows why legal reviews matter

TON’s UAE ‘golden visa’ mishap shows why legal reviews matter

The TON Foundation could have avoided its golden visa controversy in the UAE with a brief legal review, a local lawyer told Cointelegraph.

Continue Reading

Politics

Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government dies aged 94

Published

on

By

Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher's government dies aged 94

Norman Tebbit, the former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, has died at the age of 94.

Lord Tebbit died “peacefully at home” late on Monday night, his son William confirmed.

One of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal cabinet ministers, he was a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s.

He held the posts of employment secretary, trade secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Conservative party chairman before resigning as an MP in 1992 after his wife was left disabled by the Provisional IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

He considered standing for the Conservative leadership after Mrs Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but was committed to taking care of his wife.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and party chairman Norman Tebbit.
Pic: PA
Image:
Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit in 1987 after her election victory. Pic: PA

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called him an “icon” in British politics and was “one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism”.

“But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism, which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing,” she wrote on X.

“He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised. Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.

“May he rest in peace.”

Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
Pic: PA
Image:
Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Pic: PA

Tory grandee David Davis told Sky News Lord Tebbit was a “great working class Tory, always ready to challenge establishment conventional wisdom for the bogus nonsense it often was”.

“He was one of Thatcher’s bravest and strongest lieutenants, and a great friend,” Sir David said.

“He had to deal with the agony that the IRA visited on him and his wife, and he did so with characteristic unflinching courage. He was a great man.”

Reform leader Nigel Farage said Lord Tebbit “gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP”.

He was “a great man. RIP,” he added.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with Employment Secretary Norman Tebbit.
Pic: PA
Image:
Lord Tebbit as employment secretary in 1983 with Mrs Thatcher. Pic: PA

Born to working-class parents in north London, he was made a life peer in 1992, where he sat until he retired in 2022.

Lord Tebbit was trade secretary when he was injured in the Provisional IRA’s bombing in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference in 1984.

Five people died in the attack and Lord Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down. She died in 2020 at the age of 86.

Before entering politics, his first job, aged 16, was at the Financial Times where he had his first experience of trade unions and vowed to “break the power of the closed shop”.

He then trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a Meteor 8 jet – before becoming the MP for Epping in 1970 then for Chingford in 1974.

Norman Tebbit during the debate on the second reading of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill, in the House of Lords.
Pic: PA
Image:
Lord Tebbit during an EU debate in the House of Lords in 1997. Pic: PA

As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.

His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the black community and the police.

He was frequently misquoted as having told the unemployed to “get on your bike”, and was often referred to as “Onyerbike” for some time afterwards.

What he actually said was he grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father who did not riot, “he got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it”.

Continue Reading

Politics

‘Oui’ or ‘non’ for Starmer’s migration deal?

Published

on

By

'Oui' or 'non' for Starmer's migration deal?

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

The first European state visit since Brexit starts today as President Emmanuel Macron arrives at Windsor Castle.

On this episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy look at what’s on the agenda beyond the pomp and ceremony. Will the government get its “one in, one out” migration deal over the line?

Plus, which one of our presenters needs to make a confession about the 2008 French state visit?

Continue Reading

Trending