London’s FTSE 100 index fell sharply by 4.38%, or 352.9 points, to 7,702.08 at the close of trading on Monday, PA Media reports. PA says:

It meant the index of the UK’s largest publicly-listed firms slid to its lowest closing price since March last year as global markets continue to be shaken by US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.

In the US, the Dow Jones index was down 1.52%, while the S&P 500 was 0.96% lower.

In currency, sterling suffered a heavy fall, slipping by 1.28% to 1.272 against the dollar at London market close.

A business minister told MPs that the closure of the blast furnces at the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe is “far from a done deal”.

Speaking in response to an urgent question the Commons, Sarah Jones said:

I can assure this house that early blast furnace closures at Scunthorpe are far from a done deal.

We have been clear that the best way forward is for British Steel to continue as a commercially run business with private investment and government acting in support, which is why we made the company a generous offer of public funding on March 24.

As members are aware, British Steel’s owner did not accept our offer or the necessary conditions attached to it, which were designed to protect workers, safeguard taxpayers’ money and deliver a sustainable company core to the future of British steelmaking. But that is not the end of the matter.

Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing secretary, said the government should intervene to protect the factory.

Steel is obviously a key strategic industry, even more so given our need to increase defence spending and infrastructure investment. And even mores so again given President Trump’s game changing imposition of tariffs.

The prime minister keeps saying the world has changed, and indeed we are witnessing the end of globalisation, which I can’t say I totally agree with.

But if that’s the government’s position then surely it has no choice but to intervene to support domestic production. The alternative could see us locked out of reliable, consistently-priced sources of steel.

Julian Lewis, another Tory, urged the government to nationalise the factory. He said the minister “shouldn’t waste the opportunity of a lifetime to have the parties of the right urging a party of the left to nationalise a British industry.” He added:

Seize the opportunity, keep the blast furnaces, and, if necessary nationalise them for good.

Jones replied:

I have not failed to notice the slightly odd position that we find ourselves in today and I would just repeat that we are looking at all options.

Here is the passage from Keir Starmer’s speech where he talked about measures to support the life sciences sector. (See 2.54pm.) He cited this as an example of how the government will be using industrial policy to protect business (one of his strategies for dealing with the Trump tariffs – see 12.30pm.)

In the coming days and weeks, we are going to use industrial policy to shelter British business from the storm.

Take our life sciences sector, another shining example of British brilliance. An absolutely pivotal part of our export economy. We’re going to back them, as well.

We’re going to rip up the red tape. Cut the stifling bureaucracy that slows down clinical trials. Now Britain used to be better at this but we’ve taken our foot off the pedal.

The latest data says it takes over 250 days to set up a clinical trial. I’m going to slash that to 150.

And on top of that, I can also announce – a new investment up to £600m in a new Health Data Research Service. A welcome partnership with the Wellcome Trust strengthening the genome cluster in Cambridge.

Making sure that patient data in our NHS is unlocked for the public good. An opportunity for growth – but more importantly to save lives with cutting edge medicine and Britain is so good at this.

We saw that in the pandemic. And we now need to pick up the pace again. This country has never waited around for history to shape us. We have shaped history – and we will do so again now.

The full text of the speech is now on the No 10 website (although they call it “remarks”, not a speech, which is an admission that it wasn’t one of his finest).

With the global stock market’s response to the Trump tariffs changing minute by minute, it would have been unreasonable to expect Keir Starmer to give a considered, and fixed, response to the crisis in that speech. Which is just as well, because he didn’t.

In many respects, the speech this afternoon was surprisingly shallow. Other than the electric cars policy announcement briefed overnight, the only news it contained was what sounded like a back-of-the-envelope life sciences pledge (see 2.54pm). Almost everything he said about the economy he had already set out over the past few days. The most striking feature, perhaps, was the extent of his praise for the “brilliance” of the car workers he was addressing. Some viewers may think he overdid it, but he was probably thinking about his dad, and it sounded fairly genuine.

As explained earlier, there are at least five strands to the government’s response to the tariffs crisis. (See 12.30pm.) The only one that did not get much of a mention was the anticpated trade deal with the US. As Kate McCann from Times Radio points out, this may indicate a change of thinking over the past week.

Interesting but subtle shift of emphasis by Starmer in answering @ChrisMasonBBC. Asked if Gov can shield people from Trump PM says UK will continue to work on a potential UK/US trade agreement BUT this is the time to step up on our side. Last week the trade deal was the answer...

All four other measures are still very much in the mix. But Starmer did not say a lot about reducing trade barriers and, especially given what No 10 was saying earlier (see 1.01pm), anyone hoping for Britain to take the lead in some global, anti-Trump free trade alliance will be disappointed. Mostly Starmer was focusing on making British industry more resilient, and helping sectors particularly affected by tariffs. But there was not much detail on this, and these policies may end up looking a lot like the pro-growth agenda that Starmer was committed to anyway.

If it is hard to categorise Starmer’s stance, that may be because he is averse to being too ideological. In an astute New Statesman article, George Eaton argues that Starmer is adopting his own version of the third way on globalisation.

New Labour was sceptical of or even hostile to public ownership – Starmer is renationalising the railways and has launched the first new publicly owned company since the 1970s: GB Energy (the fate of the Chinese-owned British Steel, threatening 2,700 jobs, will be a test of the government’s interventionism). Blair cherished the UK’s “flexible” labour market, Starmer’s Employment Rights Bill heralds a more regulated model. Tax and spending are on a similarly European trajectory.

But there is one Blairite concept – “the third way” – that might help illuminate Starmer’s outlook. Blair was seeking to chart a course between Thatcherism and traditional social democracy. Today, as his speech in the West Midlands will make clear, Starmer is rejecting both protectionism and free-market liberalism.

“There are two wrong paths to go down in this era,” a No 10 strategist told me. “One is defending the status quo, defending institutions as they are, saying there’s a few things that we can do differently but the grown-ups are in charge. The other path you can go down is destroying those institutions, that’s the way of the populist right. We don’t think that stopping global trade is the answer.”

There may be a logic to this. But that does not make Starmer’s strategy compelling. Here are two very different commentators on the speech – making broadly the same point.

From Lewis Goodall from the News Agents podcast

Starmer’s speech is strong on diagnosis. Weak on prescription. Because Britain just isn’t economically powerful enough on its own to offer one

In terms of Britain’s response we’re not going to retaliate with tariffs. We don’t have the heft of the EU’s trade bloc so our leverage is limited, even as a threat. We don’t have the export flows China has. So if Starmer is serious about protecting British industry then you’re going to need money. Therefore the only real question is whether the fiscal rules are relaxed. Starmer didn’t give an unequivocal no on that today.

From John Crace, the Guardian’s sketchwriter

Keir Starmer has just said ‘Our future is in our hands’.

Not sure he has grasped the situation

During the Q&A Sam Coates from Sky News asked Keir Starmer if he could pledge to keep Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rules “exactly as they are” for the whole of this parliament.

Starmer replied:

The fiscal rules were put in for a purpose, and that is because Liz Truss tried an experiment with this country of putting to one side fiscal rules and checks and balances. And that caused a massive impact on the lives of working people as inflation and interest rates went through the roof.

We are not prepared to inflict that kind of damage on working people. That’s why we put the fiscal rules in the first place, to create that kind of stability.

It’s why we were able to invest at the budget and set out, as we did, the steps for the future in the spring statement. Now is the time to build on that …

So the reaction to the challenges of the last few days is not for us to say, ‘Well, the first thing we’ll now do is put to one side our fiscal rules.’ It is to remind people why we put them in place in the first place, which is to create the certainty that we need.

There is enough uncertainty and insecurity as it is. Our job is to calmly and pragmatically take forward these really important steps today for our country.

That was a strong argument for not changing the fiscal rules. But, because Starmer did not explicitly rule out changing the fiscal rules, lobby correspondents at first thought there might be some significance in the omission.

Alex Wickham from Bloomberg said:

Keir Starmer does not commit to fiscal rules remaining completely unchanged for the full Parliament, asked by @SamCoatesSky

And Harry Cole from the Sun said:

PM commits to the tax lock.... some debate over whether the fiscal rules survive too

Someone seems to have had a word to clear this up, because Wickham subsequented posted this.

No10 stresses fiscal rules are iron clad and non negotiable

And Cole posted this.

No10 insist there is no debate about the Fiscal Rules...

Q: What measures will the government take to protect the Scunthorpe steelworks? Will you consider nationalisation?

Starmer says he will not discuss particular measures for steel.

But he says the car announcements today are “not the extent of my ambition when it comes to car manufacturing or any other business or sector”. He goes on:

I think we can go further and faster, and we will do so.

I’m not indicating there a particular measure. But I am indicating an openness of mind to go further.

On steel in particular, he said it was “part of our heritage”. He went on:

Our plans for growth are going to require more steel, and therefore the demand for steel is going to go up, not down, and that’s why it’s important that we support our steel industry.

I’m really pleased that in Port Talbot, we were able to ensure there was a better deal.

I’m really pleased that we’ve set aside £2.5bn pounds for the future of steel. I’m very pleased that we’re working with and discussing the situation in Scunthorpe, which is extremely worrying … and all options are on the table.

Mark Brown has filed a good article today on what the closure of the steelworks would mean for Scunthorpe.

Q: Will you stick to your pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT?

Starmer says that is a commitment he will keep.

He says the government cannot just reach for taxes when it needs money; it must promote growth.

Q: [From ITV’s Robert Peston] The US stock market has now crashed. Have you told Trump his tariffs are making the world poorer? And isn’t it time to rescind the state visit invitation?

Starmer says nobody welcomes tariffs. That has been his position, he says.

He says it is “not in our interest to simply rip up that relationship”.

That implies the state visit is still on.

Starmer is now taking question.

Q: [From the BBC’s Chris Mason] Isn’t the truth that you cannot protect people from global factors like the Trump tariffs?

Starmer says at a moment like this you have to shape your future.

We can’t cowed and simply say, there are things happening in a changing world which make it more difficult, and therefore we retreat. This is the moment to seize that opportunity, and that’s why I’m absolutely clear in my mind.

He says the government will respond in two ways.

First, it will turbocharge measures to help domestic industries. He says he has mentioned two today, covering the car industry, and life sciences. He goes on:

By the way they’re a statement of intent. That is not the extent of the turbocharging – it is simply early examples in the areas most impacted.

And, second, the government will talk to other countries about lowering barriers to trade, he says.

Starmer is now talking about the life sciences.

This sector is another example of British brilliance, he says.

But it is held back by bureaucracy.

He says he going to change that. Currently it takes 250 days to get a licence for a clinical trial. That will come down to 150 days, he says.

And the government will invest up to £600m in new health data research service, in partnership with Wellcome Trust.

UPDATE: See 4.40pm for the full quote.

Starmer says:

Nobody is pretending that tariffs are good news. You know that better than anyone – 25% tariffs on automotive exports and 10% on other goods, that is a huge challenge for our future, and the global economic consequences could be profound.

Starmer says JLR is “our leading exporter of goods”.

The cars made here are an example of British industrial brilliance, he says.

And he says this as part of the UK’s future too, he says.

We are going to back you to the hilt.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is introducing Keir Starmer at a Jaguar Land Rover plant in the West Midlands.

She says the global economy has become more uncertain. Workers are concerned about what the Trump tariffs mean. The UK is in a stronger position than others. But the UK will still feel the effects of tariffs elsewhere, and particularly tariffs in the auto sector.

An inquiry into the Southport murders has formally begun its work looking at how to learn lessons from the attack, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has said. PA Media reports:

Cooper announced the start of the two-phase statutory public inquiry, which will have legal powers to receive evidence and hear witness testimony, today.

The probe comes after Axel Rudakubana was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years – one of the highest minimum terms on record – for murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.

The inquiry will be chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford, a former vice-president of the Court of Appeal who sentenced Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens to a whole-life term.

Cooper said: “The brutal murder of three young girls: Bebe, Elsie and Alice in Southport was an unimaginable tragedy – we owe it to their families, and all those affected on that terrible day to quickly understand what went wrong, answer difficult questions and do everything in our power to prevent something like this from happening again. The Southport Inquiry will provide insights into any failings that allowed a young man with a previous history of violence, to commit this horrendous attack.”

The first phase of the probe will “thoroughly investigate” the circumstances surrounding the attack and the events leading up to it, including Rudakubana’s interactions with multiple public bodies such as education and social care.

Three separate referrals were made to the government’s counter-terror programme Prevent about Rudakubana’s behaviour in the years before the attack, as well as six separate calls to police.

The final report for the first phase of the inquiry is expected to be completed by the end of the year or early 2026.

The second phase will examine the wider issue of young people being drawn into extreme violence.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, and vocal Donald Trump supporter, has said that he thinks the Trump tariffs are just “a big negotiating tool”.

Speaking at his press conference this morning, he said:

I still think that this big tariff threat globally … It’ll look different in three months time. He’ll use it as a big negotiating tool. I think we’re better positioned to come out of this with a deal than almost any other country.

So, short term it’s painful, but what it does do, it expose the fact that not being in the European Union does have advantages and ones that we ought to use.

Farage also dismissed the measures being announced by Keir Starmer today to help the car industry (see 9.37am), saying it was “fiddling around the edges”. He explained:

[Starmer] is that he’s making a big speech today about the state of the car industry. It is nothing to do with the tariffs that last year was our lowest level of car production since 1954.

The EV [electric vehicle] mandates that were put on by the last Conservative government have been destroying the car industry and all the prime minister is doing this afternoon, frankly, is fiddling around the edges. Even without America and tariffs our car industry is in crisis.

One reason why it has been hard for world leaders to respond to the US tariffs is because no one really knows whether Donald Trump is determined to stick with them at all costs, or whether he might be willing to reduce them (because they were all just a negotiating ploy all along? Or because he will eventually cave in the face of market pressure?)

As Ed Pilkington reports, even members of Trump’s cabinet don’t seem able to agree on this.

Asked if the UK government thinks Trump is or isn’t open to changing his mind, the PM’s spokesperson refused to answer, saying he would not give “a running commentary”.

Asked if Keir Starmer was currently seeking a call with Trump, the spokesperson declined to say, but confirmed that the media would be told when a call does take place.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing, asked if there was any discussion in those talks of accelerating closer economic links with the EU, or with Canada, the PM’s spokesperson replied:

When it comes to EU, our position on the reset is that we do want to work more closely with the EU on trade.

And, on Canada, the spokesperson said that Starmer and Mark Carney, the Canadian PM had discussed the importance of the CPTPP trade deal, to which both the UK and Canada are party.

But asked if the Trump tariffs had changed the government’s ambition in terms of what it would be seeking from the “reset” talks with the EU this year that are intended to deepen the post-Brext trading relationship, the spokesperson replied:

I don’t think it’s fundamentally changed the calculation. The government was very clear on coming into office that we wanted to seek a closer trading relationship with the EU.

We have restated our ambition to not only go further and faster domestically, and the importance of that when it comes to supporting UK businesses in light of what’s happened in [recent] days and weeks.

But it also underlines the importance of trading relationships around the world, and we think we can get a much better trading relationship with the EU, which is obviously our largest trading partner.

Asked if the Trump tariffs were making the government reconsider its opposition to rejoining the EU customs union, the spokesperson replied:

No. Our previously stated position on that [still applies]; we are not going backwards when it comes to Brexit, we’re looking forward. There’s no change to any of those red lines.

But we do think we can have a better trading relationship with EU.

Keir Starmer spoke to the leaders of Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Canada and the European Commission at the end of last week and over the weekend. The UK has ruled out immediate retaliatory tariffs. But, at the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning, the PM’s spokesperson would not say whether Starmer directly urged other leaders to hold off on retaliatory tariffs too.

Asked Starmer had urged his counterparts not to retaliate, the spokesperson replied:

It will always be up to every country to respond in the way that they see fit.

We’ve been very clear that we will respond to this in a cool and pragmatic way that supports the national interest.

And I think it is widely agreed, as you have seen from [the readouts of the weekend calls], that clearly a global trade war is not in anybody’s interest, certainly not in the UK’s economic interests. We are an open trading nation. We want to see reduced barriers to trade with other economies around the world.

The spokesperson confirmed that Starmer did not speak to President Trump over the weekend.

In his Times article Keir Starmer describes the Trump tariffs as “the beginning of a new era”. He has been saying this at least since last Thursday, when he spoke about the tariffs at a Q&A with journalists at Labour’s local elections campaign launch. The speech this afternoon is being described as the PM’s most considered response so far to the global economic turmoil generated by the tariffs, but we have already heard quite a lot from Starmer on this topic already, in a Sunday Telegraph article yesterday and in No 10 briefings on the calls he had with world leaders about the situation over the weekend.

Is there a coherent strategy? On the basis of what he has said so far, there are at least five elements in the mix at the moment.

1) Push for a trade deal with the US. Starmer has ruled out immediate retaliatory tariffs, and the government is still hoping to negotiate a trade deal with the US. Last week Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said he hoped this would lead to the US lifting the 10% tariffs on all UK imports, but yesterday, on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, refused to confirm that having a deal would led to the tariffs being removed.

2) Push further and faster for growth. Starmer was elected on a commitment to prioritise growth, and he has argued that the global economic situation makes this more important than ever. But, in terms of talking about the policies that might deliver this, mostly Starmer has been highlighting policies that were already in the pipeline.

3) Help sectors most affected by tariffs. The automative industry is specifically at risk, because cars are subject to 25% tariffs, and today’s announcment is a sector-specific intervention. In his Times article Starmer says: “This is just the first of a series of pro-growth measures we’ll be delivering to provide certainty, stability, and support for industry.”

4) Make British industry more resilient. Even before she became chancellor, Rachel Reeves was arguing that globalisation in its old form was dead and that industrial policy had to make the UK less reliant on imports. She called this “securonomics”, and the Trump tariffs have arguably made the case for this even stronger. Starmer echoed this in his Sunday Telegraph article at the weekend, where he wrote: “We stand ready to use industrial policy to help shelter British business from the storm.”

5) Strengthen trade links with other free trade countries. Starmer is being urged by people like Jim O’Neill, the former Treasury minister, and Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, to respond to the Trump tariffs by developing a free trade “coalition of the willing” with non-US economies. Arguably this approach would contradict 4). But there is some evidence Starmer is exploring this. In a read-out of Starmer’s call with the Canadian PM Mark Carney at the weekend, No 10 said both men agreed on “the importance of free and open trade between like-minded nations”. And, talking to the Australian PM Anthony Albanese and the Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Starmer said “it has been clear for a long time that like-minded countries must maintain strong relationships.”

In summary, the Trump tariffs crisis has not really prompted a change of course, more an intensification of policies that Starmer was pursuing anyway. But we are only five days into Trump’s economic “new era”. The Starmer response is likely to evolve.

Keir Starmer has written an article for today’s Times defending the changes announced today to the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate. He says the announcement shows the government is willing to trust manufacturers.

When the last government rowed back on its electric vehicle targets, that harmed investment. So we will keep our commitments in place. The certainty that business needs in uncertain times.

But we need to give British industry flexibility in how it gets to those targets. That’s why today we’re announcing changes to the EV mandate. The last government designed it with nowhere near enough regard for manufacturing. That era of policy making is over.

Instead of micromanaging businesses, we’re trusting them. We’re giving them the flexibility they need to hit the target in a way that works for them while keeping our manifesto commitment to end sales of petrol cars by 2030.

That means no British-based manufacturers should have to pay a fine — or pay foreign firms for EV credits. But, as a backstop, we’re also going to cut the fines by 20 per cent. Any money we do raise will be invested straight back into supporting Britain’s automative industry. That is our guarantee.

In the article Starmer links the EV announcement to a wider argument about the world being in a new era, and about how, as he responds, his focus will be on what’s best for Britons, and what will make them better off.

My priority — my only priority — is the people of Britain, and what makes them better off. Which is exactly why we will rise to this moment and make change work for hard-working people.

And he explains why the EV policy will contribute to this aim.

We’re putting £2.3 billion towards tax breaks for people buying electric vehicles and improving charging infrastructure — one public charging point pops up every half an hour. And we’ll put rocket boosters behind British industry’s efforts to go faster for consumers at home.

Buying a British electric car running on home-grown clean power could save you £1,100 a year on your fuel bill.

More than 130 refugee and human rights organisations have called on Keir Starmer to stop using language that demonises migrants, after he made controversial remarks before an international people-smuggling summit, Diane Taylor reports.

The Green party claims the government’s decision to change its Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate means the government is weakening its commitment to tackling the climate crisis.

In a statement, the Green MP Siân Berry said:

We do need to protect our manufacturers against the US’s aggressive and chaotic trade policy, but we must not allow the Trump administration to derail our transition towards a green economy. We should work to build cooperative trade alliances with countries that maintain their commitment to climate action under the UN COP process.

The government is wrong to apply the brakes on the sale of EV cars. This is just the latest in a series of boosts the Labour government has given fossil fuel industries. We’ve also seen the green light being given to airport expansion and a new road tunnel under the Thames. This suggests Labour is weakening its climate commitments, and its health-related policy goals because all these moves will have a detrimental impact on air quality.

Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, has confirmed that the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate changes announced today are the result of a consultation that started at the end of last year, before the US tariffs were announced and before Donald Trump even took office as president.

But she said the tariffs meant the announcement came with “renewed urgency”. She told LBC:

So, the consultation on the zero-emission vehicles mandate started on Christmas eve, and it closed in the middle of February, and so we were always planning to bring forward our response in April as a government.

Obviously what happened last week with the imposition of global tariffs by the US administration has meant that we have looked at this with renewed urgency in the last week, because, if you think about businesses like Jaguar Land Rover, their business planning has really been thrown up into the air given the amount of cars they export to the US.

Because the car manufacturers have been saying to us ‘We need certainty on this’, it’s really important that we come forward with a sensible package urgently, which is what we are doing today, so that we can take that part of uncertainty away from their planning because we recognise it is a challenging time for a lot of businesses at the moment.

Last night the Conservative party claimed that the changes to the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate announced by the government amounted to a U-turn.

But this morning Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said the changes – which don’t involve 2030 being changed as the phase out date for the sale of most new petrol and diesel cars – would only have a “negligible” on the UK’s carbon emissions.

She told told BBC Breakfast:

The changes we are making have been very carefully calibrated so as not to have a big impact upon the carbon emissions savings that are baked into this policy.

In fact, the impact upon carbon emissions as a result of these changes is negligible.

Good morning. As prime minister, there is nothing more important than being able to show the nation, when a crisis hits, that you are responding pro-actively, that you have a plan to cope, and that you are not just passive and helpless. Today is unusual because Keir Starmer is responding to a crisis caused by someone who is purportedly an ally, but in other respects the crisis response is familiar; “government will protect you”, the PM will say.

Starmer will be giving a speech early this afternoon and here is Pippa Crerar’s overnight preview story about what he is going to say.

Starmer will focus in particular on the car industry, which has been hit by 25% tariffs on exports to the US. He will say:

Global trade is being transformed so we must go further and faster in reshaping our economy and our country through our Plan for Change …

Now more than ever UK businesses and working people need a government that steps up, not stands aside. That means action, not words. So today I am announcing bold changes to the way we support our car industry.

The announcement involves changes to the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, the set of relatively complex rules setting targets for car manufacturers to ensure they transition to producing electric vehicles and stop selling new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The 2030 target stays (more or less – the government is exempting micro-volume supercar brands, like McLaren and Aston Martin). But manufacturers will be allowed to sell full hybrid cars until 2035, and fines for firms that don’t meet the ZEV (zero emission vehicle) targets will be reduced. Companies will also get more flexibility in how they meet these targets. The Department for Transport has the details in a news release here.

The motor industry has welcomed these changes – as far as they go. But it has also described them as quite modest, and likely to have only a limited impact given the challenges it is facing.

According to the Financial Times, Lisa Brankin, managing director of Ford in the UK, said the announcement was “a small step in the right direction,” but added: “It is not the giant leap required to address the especially challenging electric vehicle market conditions”.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said much more was needed. In a statement Mike Hawes, the SMMT chief executive, said:

We await full details of the regulatory amendments but, given the potentially severe headwinds facing manufacturers following the introduction of US tariffs, greater action will almost certainly be needed to safeguard our industry’s competitiveness. UK-US negotiations must continue at pace, while the long-awaited industrial and trade strategies should prioritise automotive and be delivered at speed.

And in an interview on the Today programme this morning Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu motors, one of the UK’s biggest car dealerships, said:

There are lots and lots of words in the announcement, but it doesn’t really address the major issues. The electric vehicle targets up to 2030 remain in place. The fines have been changed, but it’s still £12,000 pound fine for every petrol and diesel car up to 2030 that’s sold above the zero emission targets. That’s billions of pounds to manufacturers, and manufacturers face a choice with, adding the pressure on of tariffs, of either paying significant fines or rationing petrol and diesel cars. Nothing has really changed here. This is real tinkering.

For a sense of how serious the Trump tariff challenge actually is, do read Graeme Wearden’s business live blog. He says shares on the FTSE 100 have plunged 6% this morning.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK, holds a press conference in Doncaster with the party’s mayoral candidate in the city, Alexander Jones, and a “special guest”, the party says.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Early afternoon: Keir Starmer gives a speech in the West Midlands on “how this government is backing British business with support to carmakers”, No 10 says.

2.30pm: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

After 3.30pm: Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, is due to make a statement to MPs about changes to the zero emissions vehicle mandate.

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