Sir Keir Starmer is returning to the UK after his meeting with Donald Trump at the White House where a potential trade deal was discussed. While there are limited details of what this deal could look like, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News the NHS “is not up for grabs”.
Friday 28 February 2025 09:35, UK
After his whirlwind trip to the US, the prime minister has returned to Downing Street.
He flew overnight from Washington and landed this morning before heading back to central London.
The PM will be busy preparing for his summit with European leaders on Sunday.
By Faye Brown, political reporter
Donald Trump has put the possibility of a long-awaited UK-US trade deal back on the cards after a meeting with Keir Starmer.
But after numerous failed attempts to achieve this by the Tories – what could that look like?
“The most important thing is not to go down the route of the FTA”, says Chris Southworth, Secretary General of International Chamber of Commerce, referring to a full Free Trade Agreement.
He tells Sky News this previously hasn’t worked due to “significant points of difference” – food standards, chlorinated chicken, hormone injected beef, and access to NHS being “showstoppers on the UK side” while access to government procurement is a “showstopper on the US side”.
Mr Southworth says a finance and tech agreement will be a “more agile, more flexible, responsive type of agreement”.
“It’s about playing to strengths and not getting into an agricultural deal, it just doesn’t work.”
He says there is an opportunity for £10 trillion of efficiency savings by digitalising global trade, helping Rachel Reeve’s growth agenda – but the “wins for the US are just as big as they are for us”.
A Digital Economy Agreement has already been struck with Singapore, and a similar deal with the US “could be done very quickly as we are so aligned n these areas – within six months,” says Mr Southworth.
Crucially, this also wouldn’t impact our relationship with the EU – and even provides a “big opportunity for them to be also part of this in the longer term”.
‘Game changer’
He adds: “Yesterday was a game changer, the prime minister shifted the narrative from tariffs to deals.
“Donald Trump is a very transactional character so let’s transact and do deals. It can absolutely be achieved with political will.”
More patients in England will be able to book appointments online and request to see their regular doctor as part of a new deal agreed with GPs in England, the government has said.
The deal includes an additional £889m in funding for the year 2025 to 2026 and is designed to end the “8am scramble” for appointments.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News it would “modernise the way that people can book appointments” and “bring back the family-doctor relationship”.
He said it was “slashing the red tape that ties GPs up” and had “almost halved the number of measures and bureaucracy that GPs have to undertake”.
From October, the reforms will require GP surgeries to allow patients to request appointments online in a bid to free-up phone lines for urgent enquires and help end the 8am rush to book appointments over the phone.
GPs will also be incentivised to identify patients who would benefit from seeing their regular doctor at every consultation.
Targets, including those requiring surgeries to report on staff wellbeing meetings, have also been scrapped to allow doctors to spend more time treating patients.
Announcing the agreement, Mr Streeting said: “Today, we have taken the first step to fixing the front door to the NHS, bringing back the family doctor, and ending the 8am scramble.”
When leaders of countries meet, it is usual that they give each other gifts.
And the meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump was no different.
We now know that Starmer got the president a family tartan golf cap, some Downing Street golf balls, and some Downing Street crystal glasses.
Melania Trump meanwhile received a Liberty scarf, as well as a Chequers book and a Number 10 candles.
In return, Trump gave the prime minister a US soccer shirt with the name Starmer and the number 10 on the back.
By Faye Brown, political reporter
A lack of jobs is forcing GPs out of the NHS with some taking up work as Uber drivers to pay the bills, experts have told Sky News.
The “ridiculous” situation has been blamed on chronic underfunding and the rising costs of running a general practice – meaning there is not enough money to recruit.
It comes at a time when demand for GP appointments is greater than ever, with medics fearing the situation will get worse once the rise in employers’ national insurance comes into effect in April, as GP surgeries are not exempt.
According to a new survey by the British Medical Association (BMA), one in five GPs in England are already planning a career change because they can’t find any or enough work.
The poll of 1,400 family doctors tallies with the findings of a survey by Dr Steve Taylor of 1,000 GPs, which found one third are either underemployed or out of work.
Dr Taylor, a Manchester-based GP of 30 years and a spokesperson for the Doctors Association, told Sky News he was aware of some newly qualified GPs working gig economy jobs like Uber drivers “as a fill in just to pay the bills”.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This government inherited a ludicrous situation where patients can’t get a GP, yet qualified GPs couldn’t get a job.
“We acted immediately to cut red tape and have already proposed the biggest boost to GP funding in years – an extra £889m.
“We are committed to recruiting an extra 1,000 GPs as promised.”
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer worked his charm on President Donald Trump during his visit to the White House.
The meeting couldn’t have gone much better for the UK leader who arrived with an invitation for Trump from Buckingham Palace and left with the possibility of a UK-US trade deal.
On Day 40 of Trump100 US correspondents Mark Stone and James Matthews are joined by Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby who spent the day following the two leaders. They discuss the highs of the trip, but question whether people back in the UK will be impressed.
Plus, how do you get Trump’s attention in a crowded room? Beth Rigby tells all.
You can email James, Mark and Martha on trump100@sky.uk
👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is speaking to Sky News this morning on behalf of the government.
Unsurprisingly, the cabinet minister is quick to big up the prime minister’s success during his meeting with Donald Trump.
However, as the minister in charge of the health service, and with talks of a trade deal ramping up, the first question many will want the answer to is whether America will get access to the NHS.
“The NHS is not up for grabs and it’s not on the table in the context of trade,” Streeting says.
There are areas where the UK and US can work together and “deepen the trading relationship” however.
But Streeting repeats a warning from Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary, that the warmth and enthusiasm seen in Washington yesterday was enough to “get the ball rolling”, but the “hard yards” are still ahead.
The UK getting a trade deal and avoiding tariffs will be key if Starmer wants to accelerate economic growth.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer worked his charm on US President Donald Trump during his visit to the White House. Sky’s Mark Stone talks us through the day.
He may have taken a red-eye flight to get back from Washington this morning, but the prime minister is not stopping his diplomacy blitz.
European leaders – including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy – will be gathering in London on Sunday for a summit focusing on defence and the war with Russia.
This will also likely feature a recap and discussion after a week that will see Sir Keir, Mr Zelenskyy, and France’s Emmanuel Macron all meet with Donald Trump.
Mr Macron visited earlier in this week before Sir Keir, while Mr Zelenskyy’s meeting with the US president is today.
Mr Trump still appears sceptical to provide the security guarantee for a peace deal in Ukraine that is being asked for by European powers.
However, his talks with Mr Zelenskyy over access to Ukrainian minerals appear to be progressing – and he seems to have watered down his rhetoric, having recently called the leader in Kyiv a “dictator” but declining to do so again yesterday.
Sir Keir does not have to worry about parliament today, as it’s not sitting, but will be waiting to meet with Mr Macron, Mr Zelenskyy, and leaders from Italy, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council on Sunday.
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