News

Oct 05, 2023

Biden and Sunak hold press conference as new transatlantic deal unveiled

Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden have agreed a new partnership to bolster economic

Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden have agreed a new partnership to bolster economic security in response to China's growing influence. The Atlantic Declaration, announced as the prime minister and US president met in the White House includes commitments on easing trade barriers, closer defence industry ties and a data protection deal. The agreement comes after hopes of a full-blown free trade deal were abandoned, with UK officials insisting the new, targeted approach was a better response to the economic challenges posed by Beijing and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The deal mitigates some of the issues cause by Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with proposals for a critical minerals agreement to remove barriers which affected trade in electric vehicle batteries. An agreement would give buyers of vehicles made using critical minerals processed, recycled or mined by UK companies access to tax credits in line with the IRA.

During a press conference, Biden says the potential of AI is "staggering". He added: "We are looking to Great Britain to help lead a way through this.. There is no country we have greater faith in to help negotiate our way through this." Biden also said the US will have the funding needed to support Ukraine for "as long as it takes".

Sunak hailed the UK-US relationship as "indispensable". The PM also said the UK and US must co-operate to protect their economic security to counter threats from Russia and China.

Sunak said governments need to approach AI with the "same spirit of urgency" as they do climate change but did not provide any specifics on how he intends to address the issue.

Peers inflicted three defeats on the government over the controversial strikes (minimum service levels) bill. In the first round of "ping pong" – the process where MPs and peers keep voting on bills that have gone through all their parliamentary stages, until one side backs down, to resolve outstanding differences – peers voted by a majority of 30 for an amendment that would render much of the legislation toothless. The bill says that, if unions want to stage strikes in six sectors (health, education, fire and rescue, transport, border security, and nuclear decommissioning), the government would be to require minimum services to operate on strike days.

Permission to berth a barge housing asylum seekers at an east London docks has been rejected. London's Royal Docks said it had informed the Home Office last month that water beside City Airport would not be appropriate as a potential location to moor one of its floating accommodation vessels for refugees. The use of barges is part of government efforts to deter asylum seekers from embarking on dangerous Channel crossings in small boats and to reduce the amount spent on hotels for those arriving in Britain via unlawful routes.

Teachers in England are abandoning their profession in record numbers, according to official figures, with Labour claiming that "incompetent" government policies were to blame.

Keir Starmer claimed Labour has a plan to revitalise the British steel industry. Speaking at a British Steel plant in Scunthorpe, he said: "There's going to be a huge demand for steel in the future, and I want that to be British steel. "Just at the moment, British steel is struggling, and we need to move to a new model, to green steel, and here it's been made absolutely clear to me that customers of the future want that green steel. "The government's doing nothing on this..."