Politics latest: 'If you want a better NHS, you have to support tax rises to pay for it,' says defiant chancellor (2025)

Liberation Day - the day America liberates itself, according to Donald Trump, by imposing sweeping tariffs on just about everyone.

We don't know the details of the tariffs yet, but we know the impact.

Tariffs make trade more expensive - more expensive for businesses, which affects growth and jobs, and more expensive for consumers too, who end up paying more for what they buy.

We're seeing the impact already - the market a sea of red on Wall Street.

And you and I know tariffs will be bad for British business.

The Treasury secretary, James Murray, absolutely most certainly does know that too. But speaking to me last night, he wouldn't say it.

Deal or no deal?

And that is perhaps the clearest example of just how frightened the British government is of antagonising Donald Trump.

They do not want to do anything to put the fragile trade deal at risk.

And the more nervous they are, the more I think maybe some kind of trade deal is actually going to happen.

Our flagship weeknight politics programme is under way.

Joining us is the UK's counter-extremism commissioner Robin Simcox.

Our panellists are former Tory defence secretary Sir Liam Fox and Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy.

Watch live in the stream below or at the top of this page.

The UK hopes an economic deal with the US will spare the country from some of the tariffs.

Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump have had "productive negotiations" towards a UK-US "economic prosperity deal", Downing Street has said.

The two leaders discussed a possible deal in a phone call on Sunday and agreed negotiations will "continue at pace", according to a statement released last Sunday.

The day before the so-called "Liberation Day", Sir Keir told ourpolitical editor Beth Rigbythe UK was "working hard on an economic deal" with the US and said "rapid progress" has been made.

But, he admitted: "Look, the likelihood is there will be tariffs. Nobody welcomes that, nobody wants a trade war.

"But I have to act in the national interest and that means all options have to remain on the table."

Watch: No 'knee-jerk' reaction to Trump's tariffs,Starmer says

Trump has not explicitly said the UK is in his sights for further tariffs, though he has described VAT - a tax added on all goods and services in the UK - as unfair.

In deciding what is a reciprocal tariff for the UK, it's possible Trump could use the tax, typically 20%, to decide.

Data shows no great trade imbalances - the gap between what you import and export from a certain country - and UK figures show no trade deficit with the United States.

Ministers have previously suggested this could be good news for avoiding new levies.

But the tariffs Trump has already announced would have a big impact on the UK - particularly the car tariff.

The world is braced to learn the details of Donald Trump's global tariffs, expected at 9pm UK time tonight - but our economics and data editor Ed Conwayhas obtained some details ahead of the announcement.

A source close to the White House has told him that there will be different bands of tariffs.

The specific band each country or industry is placed into will depend on how the White House views each country's barriers to entry for trade.

Ed added that how a tariff is defined is open to interpretation.

Trump wants to mirror tariffs imposed by countries on US imports - but the UK's 20% VAT rate could, for the White House, count as a tariff.

Rachel Reeves has told MPs the UK would not be "out of the woods" on tariffs even if the government is successful in securing an economic deal with the US.

The chancellor told the Treasury Committee the main impact on the economy would be from "global tariffs" rather than UK-specific ones, thanks to depressed demand and higher inflation in other countries.

Getting a deal with the US, "which we very much want to secure and are working hard to secure", doesn't mean the UK wouldn't be hit.

"So we don't just want to see an agreement between the UK and the US, we want to see free trade, fair trade continue," she added.

Wednesday is always a busy day for the Politics Hub (thank you, PMQs), and today has been no exception.

Here are the main things you need to know:

• Keir Starmer has said his government is preparing for "all eventualities" regarding the tariffs set to be announced by Donald Trump tonight;
• The UK is set to be hit but won't retaliate, with a trade deal with the US "pretty much done", according to our deputy political editor Sam Coates;
• But the PM acknowledged there was "pressure" on businesses and families even before the tariffs come in, as bills rise across the board and Labour's national insurance rise for employers comes in.

• Rachel Reeves has again defended her economic policies since becoming chancellor, despite controversy over the tax rises in last October's budget and welfare cuts in last week's spring statement;
• She told the Treasury Committee of MPs if people want "extra money" for things like the NHS, they have to "support the taxes that pay for it".

Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is live from 7pm.

Joining us is the UK's counter-extremism commissionerRobin Simcox.

Our panellists are former Tory defence secretarySir Liam Foxand Labour peerBaroness Helena Kennedy.

It's Wednesday, and that means Sir Keir Starmer faced PMQs in the House of Commons.

He was questioned by MPs on a range of topics, from the cost of living, to Trump's tariffs, the war in Gaza, and much more.

Our deputy political editor Sam Coates was watching live, and recorded his reaction and analysis immediately afterwards.

Watch his take below...

The world is braced for Donald Trump to announce global tariffs later today, and there's no sign of an exemption for the UK, despite intensive talks with the US.

Tory MP John Glen asks the chancellor how effective she thinks the government's representations to the White House have been.

Could Reeves raise taxes again?

Rachel Reeves replies that she has spoken to her US counterpart regularly, and most recently on Monday, while the business and trade secretary has engaged with his counterparts as well.

"I do believe in free trade, the UK has balanced trade with the US," she says, adding the prime minister and Trump agreed to start a "rapid dialogue on an economic agreement" when they met in Washington.

"That work is ongoing," she said, adding: "We do not want to see trade barriers go up".

The chancellor has very little fiscal headroom (extra money after forecast spending and taxation) by historical standards after the budget, and the tariffs the US could impose would wipe that out.

Asked to rule out future tax rises, she says: "I'm not going to write another four years worth of budgets - that would not be responsible.

"But I can assure the committee that I will not need to repeat a budget on that scale because we have now wiped the slate clean and put our public finances on a firm footing."

'No posturing - the prize is a good deal with the US'

Returning to the question of tariffs, Glen puts to the chancellor that other countries have already said they will be retaliating, and asks what she intends to do.

Reeves replies that she has spoken to her European counterpart, and says: "We are discussing with other countries and the EU about the appropriate response to whatever announcements are made later today."

She adds: “We don't want to be posturing here, the prize on offer is a good economic agreement between us and the US.

"We won't do anything to put that in jeopardy, we are not going to rush into action to get a quick headline."

Tory MP Dame Harriet Baldwin questions the chancellor on economic forecasts and the change since Labour entered government.

She says last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said "growth is recovering faster than expected, inflation has fallen rapidly to target".

But since the budget in October, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said inflation will likely increase this year - as will borrowing, unemployment, debt interest payments, and children in poverty.

Coupled with rising bills this month and potential Trump tariffs, she asks the chancellor if she "recognises" business and consumer confidence have been hit since the budget.

'I accept there are costs of any policy'

Rachel Reeves replies that the IMF was "very supportive" of the budget, and supports the fiscal rules that she is sticking to in order to bring "security back to the economy" while unlocking investment.

She goes on to say growth forecasts for countries around the world have been slashed, while the OBR has upgraded the growth forecast from next year onwards.

"They forecast that by the end of the forecast period, the economy will be bigger than they forecast at the Conservatives' last budget, and indeed, bigger than they forecast at the budget I delivered last autumn," she says.

Baldwin pushes the chancellor on the question of consumer and business confidence, and she replies: "I absolutely accept that there are costs of any policy, whether it's on spending or tax.

"But there are also costs of irresponsibility."

'Extra money needs taxes to pay for it'

Although politicians are usually opposed to hypotheticals, Reeves posits that had she not increased spending, NHS waiting lists would not be falling, the public finances would not be on a "firm footing", and the increase in defence spending would not have been possible.

Challenged again by Baldwin, Reeves says different people can have different priorities on what to do with available money.

She adds: "If you would prefer not to put that money into the NHS, you are absolutely at liberty to say that, but you have to be honest, because if you want that extra money, you have to support the taxes that pay for it."

Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, opens her questioning of the chancellor with some comments made in the wake of the spring statement last week.

Government analysis suggested more than three million families will on average be £1,720 a year worse off by 2030 as a result of benefit cuts.

But Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, argued this did not factor in extra cash for training - and said it was like his children getting a Saturday job in addition to their pocket money.

He later apologised for the "tactless" comments - and the chancellor reiterates his apology for the "clumsy language".

'Lots of disabled people desperate to work'

But she herself referenced pocket money when defending benefit cuts, telling LBC: "My children and the chief secretary's children are too young, but if you have a 16-year-old, and you say, 'you know what, I'm not going to give you so much pocket money. I want you to go out to work'.

"And then the [Office for Budget Responsibility] does an impact assessment and says your child is going to be worse off - well, they're going to be worse off if they don't go and get themselves a Saturday job.

"But if they do go and get themselves a Saturday job, they'll probably be better off, and they probably might enjoy it as well.

"Now, that's not the right analogy, but there are lots of people who have a disability that are desperate to work."

'Apologies have already been made'

Hillier asks the chancellor if she wishes to apologise for her comment, and she says she was responding to a question specifically about Jones' pocket money analogy.

She adds: "It's not a right analogy, and apologies have already been made.

"I don't think I made the same comments, but that analogy of comparing pocket money and personal independence payments is clearly not right."