Close Protection: The Prime Minister speaks during a visit to Cambridgeshire Police Headquarters on Thursday © PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
It’s (almost) the end of another week dominated by the US President’s economic decisions as he continues to govern by an apparent combination of random impulse, social media and market chaos. The Liberation Day bunting was quietly boxed up and sent down to the White House basement on Wednesday when Trump announced a 90 day pause to the introduction of his new global tariff regime, sending stock markets around the world shooting back up after their biggest drop since the Covid pandemic. Whilst a welcome relief for many of the worst hit countries and regions, the announcement means the rest of the world joins the UK on The Donald’s 10% minimum tariff, leaving the 10 Downing Street spokesperson to fend off questions this week about whether the UK Government’s attempts to woo the President have been worth it at all. A back and forth between the US and China has seen the world’s two largest economies – who between them make up 43% of the world’s GDP – inflect ever increasing tariffs on each other with the US imposing a 145% tariff on China, and China imposing a 125% tariff on the US, at the time of writing.
British Steel could be nationalised within 24 hours, after the Government announced this afternoon that Parliament will be recalled on Saturday to “take forward legislative proposals to ensure the continued operation of British Steel blast furnaces is safeguarded”. Jingye, the Chinese company who own British Steel, have been losing £700,000 per day and Trump’s 25% total tariffs on UK steel imports has accelerated the company’s imminent collapse, and put it at further risk, ironically, due to fears China will ‘dump’ steel on the UK at a lower price than it can be produced domestically. As the US President joked at a Republican dinner at the White House this week that world leaders are phoning him up, “kissing my a**”, begging to do a deal, Downing Street confirmed the Prime Minister hasn’t spoken to Trump since the implementation of tariffs last week. In a brief but welcome bit of news however, the UK economy unexpectedly grew by 0.5% in February – higher than the 0.1% expected – as the Government continues to stick to its line on no retaliation and the UK enters its second week of 10% tariffs on all goods, and 25% tariffs on cars, steel and aluminium. Responding to the GDP boost on Friday morning, Rachel Reeves pledged to go “further and faster to kickstart economic growth”, and has been keen to highlight a number of deals announced this week including a plan to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and a new Universal theme park near Bedford in six years’ time (more on that below…)
For the second part of this series, we’ve taken a peek at the revolving door of politics. Many of the new MPs in 2024 came from the world of lobbying and public affairs, but how many of those losing their seats went the other way and chose to advise others on how best to influence… parliamentarians.
Some were getting started even before they lost their seat, as the former Conservative MP for Shipley Philip Davies incorporated Nessen Ltd on 20 June 2024, two weeks before his 19-year stint on the green benches was brought to an end. Davies, who is married to a Conservative MP who did retain her seat, Esther McVey, offers public affairs support, reputational management, regulatory guidance, and Select Committee preparation to those seeking his services.
Self-declared Brexit hardman and ex-Wycombe MP Steve Baker is no stranger to provocation, and he leaned into this heavily through the creation of The Provocation People, an organisation which can ‘help you transform your decision-making by systematically dismantling groupthink.’ Launched with Professor Paul Dolan, they say their ‘bespoke consulting offer is founded on cutting edge behavioural science and [their] combined decades of leadership experience’.
And some ex-MPs have even teamed up, as former Government Ministers Robert Courts and Tom Pursglove launched Ascalane Partners. The purpose of their agency is to ‘guide you through the political and policy challenges that lie ahead’ and they set out their ‘specialist areas’ which line up quite nicely with the Ministerial briefs that they held while in Government.
Former Conservative MP and Minister Anthony Browne has launched Grand Strategy, which provides regulatory and policy advice, strategic advice, and due diligence. Browne, who is a former Chief Executive of the British Bankers’ Association, also advertises himself as a former Chair of the Government’s Regulatory Policy Committee.
Former Deputy Chief Whip Marcus Jones formed Amathus Strategy to assist clients with ‘strategy and business development.’ When announcing the launch, he said he was ‘keen to leverage [his] extensive network and experience to support organisations navigating complex challenges and shaping policy for the future’.
And that’s not all, as countless ex-MPs have joined existing consultancies. A quick look at the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments gives us an insight into those ex-Ministers and their post-Parliamentary careers. This includes Amanda Milling, who has joined JL Partners; Laura Farris has become Head of Litigation Communications at the consultancy FGS Global; and Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Jake Berry have joined Fullbrook Strategies (founded by former Chief of Staff to Liz Truss Mark Fullbrook).
145% – the current level of tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese imports. China have retaliated with 125% tariffs on US goods.
90 days – Trump’s pause on reciprocal tariffs, meaning all nations (with the exception of China) will be subject to the 10% baseline tariff on exports for this period… cue the sucking up.
0.5% – how much the economy grew by in February, outperforming the expected 0.1% growth.
£94.50 – the new increased cost of a UK adult passport for a standard online application, up from £88.50.
28,000 – jobs set to be created through plans for a major new Universal theme park and resort in Bedford, due to open in 2031.
Over 200 – applications from local areas putting themselves forward to become AI Growth Zones.
£1.5m – for the new Windrush Compensation Advocacy Support Fund.
Is Bedford the next Orlando? Universal has announced plans to build its first theme park in Europe in Bedford, a development projected to create 28,000 jobs and attract 8.5 million visitors in its opening year. The site is expected to feature a theme park, a 500-room hotel and a retail complex, with 476 acres of land already having been purchased by Universal. Unfortunately for Lib Dem Leader and theme park enthusiast Ed Davey, he won’t be able to stage a photo-op during the next general election – as the park isn’t set to open until 2031.
The Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate will be changed to make it easier for industry to deliver electric vehicles. The changes were confirmed by the Prime Minister in a speech at Jaguar Land Rover and include increasing flexibility of the mandate for manufacturers up to 2030, and allowing hybrid cars to be sold until 2035. The PM also announced a £600m partnership with the Wellcome Trust to create a new Health Data Research Service.
The Prime Minister also had his pre-Recess light grilling from the Liaison Committee, where he confirmed the Government would “definitely” lower the voting age to 16. In a session which didn’t lead to many headlines, the PM acknowledged that changes could be made to the Digital Services Tax in a bid to please the USA; said it was “very important” that UK defence companies were involved in the EU defence fund; and criticised the way the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the impact of the Government’s welfare reforms did not account for behavioural change.
The Government is putting bobbies back on the beat, as the Prime Minister announced plans to rollout the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. The new measures aim to ensure every community has access to dedicated and specialist neighbourhood policing teams. Under the plans, each neighbourhood will have named, contactable officers to tackle local issues, guaranteed police patrols and a dedicated antisocial behaviour lead in every force.
Another week, another airport. Hot on the heels of Luton Airport’s expansion approval, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has announced a £30m devolved funding package to support the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Having sat idle for years, the airport now has the potential to support 5,000 jobs, boost the economy by £5bn and provide wider benefits of £2bn by 2050.
Labour MP and Mayor of the West of England Dan Norris was arrested on suspicion of rape, child sex offences, child abduction and misconduct in a public office. Norris, who had previous served as the Rural Affairs and Environment Minister under Gordon Brown in 2009, has since been suspended from the Labour Party, banned from entering the West of England Combined Authority's (Weca) headquarters and has had his access to Parliament revoked.
Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang were denied entry to Israel last weekend while on a trip to visit humanitarian aid projects in the West Bank. According to Israel’s population and immigration authority, the pair were refused entry on the grounds that they intended to “spread hate speech”. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has since criticised Israel for this decision, calling the move “counterproductive” and “deeply concerning”. Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch argued that countries should be able to control their borders.
The Cabinet Office is looking to downsize, as civil servants at the department were told that 2,100 of their 6,500 jobs will be cut or moved to other parts of government over the next two years. Additionally, it was announced that Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden will lead a review into hundreds of public bodies in an effort to cut spending and give ministers more decision-making powers. McFadden wrote to government departments, asking them to justify every taxpayer-funded organisation not directly controlled by ministers. This follows the Government’s recently announced plans to abolish NHS England.
The UK and France held the first Defence Ministers' Ukraine Coalition of the Willing meeting on Thursday, where 30 defence ministers attended and focused on how the capabilities of each nation in the Coalition could be used in supporting Ukraine’s long-term defence and security. Following this, John Healey met with the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO's headquarters in Brussels today, where a £450m package was announced to support Ukraine.
Victims Minister Jess Phillips provided an update to the Commons on the Government’s efforts to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation, during which she announced the Government’s intention to expand the independent child trafficking guardian scheme across all of England and Wales and plans to establish a new child protection authority. She also shared that the Government is removing the three-year limitation period on victims and survivors bringing personal injury claims in the civil courts and that the Home Office would be doubling the funding it provides for national services.
Rounding off the week, Rishi Sunak finally had his resignation honours list signed off on Friday. The list includes former Housing Secretary Michael Gove, former Transport Secretary Mark Harper, former Chief Whip Simon Hart, former Scotland Secretary Alister Jack, and former Attorney General Victoria Prentis who all head into the Lords. Meanwhile, Sunak handed former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and former Home Secretary James Cleverly knighthoods, while former Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers received a damehood.
A shorter highlights from Parliament this week with no Lords, and the Commons only sitting for two days before finally reaching Easter recess. With no stages of any Bills going through Parliament, the Commons focused on two days of different Statements and Urgent Questions (nothing changes); general debates and a backbench business debate from Westminster Veteran Jim Shannon on awarding a posthumous Victoria Cross to Blair Mayne, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Second World War who was denied a Victoria Cross at the time, and an issue which MPs have been campaigning about in Parliament since 2005. In keeping with tradition, the debate on matters before the forthcoming Adjournment covered a hugely wide range of topics including Spennymoor Town football club, neighbourhood policing, gambling, wildfires, bank branch closures, water pollution, yarn bombing, nuclear energy, dentistry, free range eggs, arts training, steel, and, of course, tributes to Sir David Amess.
Only 30% of Brits think the UK still enjoys a ‘special relationship’ with the USA, down from 47% a year ago, Ipsos’ research has found. It also found that 41% believe the US mostly uses its influence for bad in the world, up from just 16% a year ago; 41% think the US’s new tariffs will impact them negatively on an individual level; and 63% think Trump is doing a bad job, compared to 18% who approve.
MPs don’t think kindly of the Blob, YouGov’s poll of MP attitudes towards the Civil Service found. 52% of MPs believe Whitehall works badly, compared to 40% who think it works well. However, Labour MPs are divided on the question, splitting evenly 46%-46%. Overall, 64% of MPs believe the Civil Service is too risk averse, 62% think work is produced slowly and 60% think Whitehall is too prone to groupthink.
The Government should publish an annual Migration Plan, suggests a new Institute for Government paper. This would allow it ‘to move on from the incoherent way immigration policy has been made in the past’ and deliver a system for identifying and resolving the trade-offs between migration policy and wider government priorities, such as growing the UK economy and ensuring public services can meet demand.
Former Tory MP Michael Fabricant appearance on this year’s Celebrity Big Brother was always going to be hilarious, especially alongside personalities such as former Love Island contest Chris Hughes and Dance Mom’s very own Jojo Siwa. However, he managed to cause hilarity with his over-reaction to the blond, fluffy, elephant in the room, when he voted to eliminate housemate Patsy Palmer after she had the temerity to ask why he wears a wig (for balance, Sir Michael has always insisted the headpiece is natural).
