US tariffs hit this week just as other costs start to bite in Britain. To meet these challenges, Labour will finally have to change
The prime minister may pretend to “like and respect” Donald Trump, but elsewhere in parliament anti-Americanism is running hot. In a Lords debate on obesity last week, Labour’s Lord Brooke suggested imposing 25% tariffs on “American products which are causing us difficulties – Coca-Cola, Pepsi, KFC, McDonald’s”. The government replied that the US is an “indispensable ally”. That craven attitude may be politic today – right until it fails tomorrow.
The outlook for Britain and other countries is bleak. Wednesday is “liberation day”, when Trump’s tariffs will hit a range of goods likely to send global economies tumbling. There is near-zero expectation that Britain’s genuflections will save us from the same punishment as the rest. As for Trump demanding no VAT on US imports to the UK, that’s extorting with menaces a benefit denied to our own producers. Even if kissing the boot did appease, how cheap do we sell national dignity?
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
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