On Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips is Science Secretary Peter Kyle and shadow chancellor Mel Stride. Meanwhile, Rachel Reeves remains in China amid growing economic woes in the UK.
Sunday 12 January 2025 10:06, UK
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Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips has finished for this week.
It’ll be back the same time next Sunday.
Lord David Owen, who was a Labour minister in the 1970s, is speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.
He was in government when Labour had to go to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.
Trevor Phillips asks him about this time – when borrowing costs were rising, the pound plummeted, and markets were sceptical of the government.
This is what led to the bailout.
Asked what the event taught him, Lord Owen says: “Basically you have to pay the price if you are indiscriminate in the use of public money.”
He adds that the reality is that breaching the confidence of the international financial world will lead to “disciplines” – and that needs to be accepted.
Lord Owen is also asked about wider issues.
He says it is “right” for Donald Trump to listen to Elon Musk, as he is a “serious business figure”.
The peer says China needs to be addressed, and that “how do deal with China” becoming a “major issue”.
He says Beijing is a bigger power than Russia now – and nuclear weapons will not be used in the Ukraine war without the nod from China.
British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) director general Shevaun Haviland tells Sky News the government needs to move faster to help the economy.
It comes off the back of grim results from the BCC’s latest survey – with confidence at its lowest levels since 2022.
Ms Haviland says business needs to see “quick action”.
She says the government has promised more plans on things like infrastructure in June – but that is six months away.
“That’s six months of vacuum we don’t need,” she adds.
Ms Haviland says she wants to see more infrastructure projects get under way, as well as reform of business rates and a closer EU relationship.
The business leader says the BCC do not see a recession “as an issue” this year when asked.
“We forecast about 1.3% growth for this year,” Ms Haviland adds.
Turning to external pressures, Ms Haviland says tariffs will not help the UK if Donald Trump decides to introduce them when he takes office.
However, as the UK is not in a trade deficit with the US, it will not hit the UK as hard as others she says.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has defended the state the country was left in at the end of the last government.
Labour has repeatedly accused the last government of leaving the economy in a perilous state.
Mr Stride says he was a vocal critic of the Liz Truss mini-budget at the time – adding that it was “a while” ago.
The shadow chancellor – who was one of Rishi Sunak’s closest allies – defends the legacy of the last administration.
He says Labour inherited “the fastest growing economy in the G7”, as well as near-record levels of employment, growing wages and lowering inflation.
Mr Stride says part of his role is “challenging the government”, adding: “We are back to the old days of socialism, where you think you can spend your way into a better world.
“And we are discovering that you can’t.”
Next up on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips is Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor.
He is asked about the ongoing allegations surrounding the government’s anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq.
Mr Stride says Sir Keir Starmer should sack her.
“It’s going to be really impossible for her to do that job under current circumstances,” he says.
“So she should step down, and the prime minister needs to get a grip of that.”
Asked what has happened to “innocent until proven guilty”, Mr Stride says there are “circumstances” in which “you cannot do your job effectively”.
Moving on to the economy, Science Secretary Peter Kyle is asked about the UK’s struggling economy.
He is pushed repeatedly on Labour’s response to increasing costs of government borrowing, low growth, and high taxes.
The minister’s response is to say last year’s budget – which was widely panned by business – “fixed the foundations” of the UK economy to allow Labour to build on.
Mr Kyle says the budget is allowing him to announce new investment on AI.
Trevor Phillips pushes the minister on whether there will be further tax rises coming down the road – but Mr Kyle again deflects.
When challenged on the UK’s low growth compared to other nations, the minister says this is down to the Conservatives, who were previously in government.
He says the “reality” is taxes were at an 80-year-high when Labour entered government last year, and the country has been stuck in a low-growth “vice”.
“We are trying to break it now”, he says.
£600m from China ‘a start’
Trevor then moves on to the chancellor’s trip to China.
He asks if the £600m coming to the UK announced on the trip is worth the visit.
Mr Kyle says it is a “start” and will be built on. He adds that the alternative is to have no money coming in.
Trevor points out China will “ignore” the UK when it voices opposition on topics like human rights and surveillance.
“We will compete, we will challenge, and we will cooperate where necessary with China,” Mr Kyle says.
Peter Kyle, the science secretary, is asked by Trevor Phillips if Tulip Siddiq should resign over allegations about properties she lived in.
In response, Mr Kyle says Ms Siddiq has done “exactly the right thing” by referring herself to the government’s ethics watchdog.
It is put to him that Labour would have called for a Tory minister in Ms Siddiq’s position to resign.
In response, Mr Kyle uses the example of bullying allegations against Priti Patel when she was home secretary.
The Labour minister says Ms Patel had to be “dragged” into an inquiry, and when she was found “guilty” there was “no action”.
He says the “right thing” is to allow the authorities to investigate – adding that Sir Keir “will listen” to any report and “the outcome will be stuck to”.
This suggests that – should Ms Siddiq be found to have broken the rules – Sir Keir is likely to remove her.
Half the public think Elon Musk is having a negative impact on British politics following his rants on X about Labour and Sir Keir Starmer, according to a new survey.
The South African-born billionaire has spent much of the past week attacking the prime minister over his opposition to another national inquiry into grooming gangs.
And he also asked his 212 million followers whether America should “liberate” the UK from its “tyrannical government”.
A poll published on Saturday suggested widespread opposition to Musk’s involvement in British politics.
Some 53% of people told Opinium they thought he was having a negative impact politics, compared to just 12% who thought he was having a positive one.
On his comments about grooming gangs specifically, 47% said they thought Mr Musk was being “unhelpful”, compared to 26% who thought the opposite.
Adam Drummond, head of political and social research at Opinium, said a “lack of enthusiasm about a foreign billionaire involving himself in British politics” was “one area of agreement” among the public.
By Faye Brown, political reporter
The chancellor has said the budget is “non-negotiable” on a visit to China in the face of volatile markets back in the UK.
Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition parties to cancel the long-planned trip because of economic turmoil at home.
The past week has seen a drop in the pound and an increase in government borrowing costs, which has fuelled speculation of more spending cuts or tax rises.
The Tories have accused the chancellor of having “fled to China” rather than explain how she will fix the UK’s flatlining economy, while the Liberal Democrats say she should stay in Britain and announce a “plan B” to address market volatility.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson said Ms Reeves had “been rumbled” and said she should “make her way to HR and collect her P45 – or stay in China”.
Welcome back to the Politics Hub.
Rachel Reeves is still in China, as the chancellor comes under increasing pressure over the state of the economy.
Ahead of next week, Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips will be speaking to politicians from across the spectrum.
From the government side is Science Secretary Peter Kyle, as he prepares to launch Labour’s AI strategy tomorrow.
After that will be shadow chancellor Mel Stride who will no doubt attack Labour on the state of the economy.
This will be followed up by British Chambers of Commerce director general Shevaun Haviland and former foreign secretary Lord David Owen.
Trevor’s panel consists of Katy Balls, Andrew Fisher and Miranda Green.
Follow live from 8.30am.
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