London, Apr. 7, (PA Media/dpa/GNA) – UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for “cool heads” as global markets continued to plunge in response to Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell to a one-year low on Monday, dropping by about 5% in early trading. It recovered slightly after Wall Street opened with a smaller than expected fall and was 2.71% down by 1427 GMT.
Starmer said the UK had to “rise together as a nation” in the face of a new era of global instability.
Speaking at a Jaguar Land Rover car plant in central England, Starmer said: “These are challenging times, but we have chosen to come here because we are going to back you to the hilt.”
He said the visit was a “statement of intent”, showing the government’s support for an industry which has been hit with a 25% tariff by US President Trump.
The prime minister said: “This is a moment for cool heads, nobody wins from a trade war, you know that.
“But it’s also a moment for urgency, because we’ve got to rise together as a nation to the great challenge of our age – and it is the great challenge – which is to renew Britain so we’re secure in this era of global instability.”
He said “this is not a passing phase” and was a “completely new world”, with the economic turbulence following the defence and security instability caused by the war in Ukraine.
He added: “Let me be really clear, at a moment like this, our future is in our hands, and so of course, we will keep calm and fight for the best deal with the US, and we’ve been discussing that intensely over the last few days.
“But we are also going to work with our key partners to reduce barriers to trade across the globe, to accelerate trade deals with the rest of the world, and champion the cause of free and open trade right across the globe.”
Analysts have warned that the scale of disruption in global financial markets is one of the worst to be felt in decades.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the UK government has had to look at its electric vehicle plans with “renewed urgency” because of the challenges facing manufacturers.
Jaguar Land Rover, one of the UK’s biggest carmakers, over the weekend announced that it would “pause” shipments to the US as it addresses the new trading rules.
Alexander said the government was not pretending its reforms to electric vehicle rules were a “silver bullet,” but that it was “part of a puzzle that we need to get right over the coming years.”
GNA
PDC