Early evening summary
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has been accused of being a “Putin-loving, free speech impostor and Trump sycophant” by a leading Democrat congressman in a committee hearing on Capitol Hill. (See 3.39pm.) And Labour has criticised Farage for suggesting that Donald Trump should use the threat of higher tariffs on the UK to secure exemptions for US firms from the Online Safety Act. (See 6.18pm.)
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
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Labour revives claim that Farage urging Trump to use tariff threat against UK to win concessions for tech firms
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has rejected suggestions that he has been urging Donald Trump to use the threat of sanctions to get US companies exempted from the Online Safety Act.
But he was quite careful about the words he used. In an interview with Sky News, when the reporter asked about Farage urging Trump to “sanction countries” (the reporter was referring to tariffs), Farage replied: “I have not used that word in any way.” (See 3.11pm.) Later he told the House judiciary committee: “I’ve not suggested sanctions, at all in any way.” (See 5.17pm.)
But sanctions are not the same as tariffs. (Rather, the word ‘sanction’ can be used generally, to mean a punitive measure, but it also has an explicit meaning in international law.) Farage may not have been proposing sanctions in the narrow sense of the word, but he was suggesting that the US might use tariff threats as leverage.
In his Sky interview, Farage said:
I’ve said that I hope that American political parties, leaders and businesses have a frank conversation with the British government and say, if you don’t sort this out, it’s going to have serious trade implications for both of us.
And Harry Cole from the Sun has posted this on social media defending his Sun story saying Farage was urging Trump to use the tariff threat.
Farage will also recommend the Committee “Declare as U.S. policy that foreign speech restrictions have no effect on Americans acting in the United States and on U.S.-hosted services even if accessed abroad, and instruct the Executive to defend this position in diplomacy and trade fora.”
Commenting on Farage’s Sky interview, Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said:
Jetting off to another country and hyping up the prospect of the UK’s trade with our closest allies being hit is about as anti-British as you can get. Labour negotiated a deal with the US that secured tens of thousands of jobs and Farage is advocating putting that at risk.
This just shows the risk Farage’s Reform pose if they ever got close to power. He waves our flag, but he represents anything but the best interests of the British people. And it’s working people who would be left to pay the price.
While Farage’s “Talk Britain Down” tour ramps up a gear, this Labour government is delivering the second phase of our Plan for Change, making sure we get more money back into working people’s pockets as quickly as possible and bring about the national renewal Britain needs.
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