The Labour leader is today marking five years since he became leader of the party in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s defeat to Boris Johnson in 2019. It is also 10 years since the lawyer first became an MP.
Friday 4 April 2025 07:11, UK
By Ed Conway, economics and data editor
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
By Ali Fortescue, political correspondent
The list has landed.
More than 400 pages of thousands of goods that could be affected by reciprocal tariffs against the US.
Everything from fresh domestic ducks to sea-going dredgers makes the cut; most symbolic, however, are iconic American items like jeans, motorcycles and whiskey.
Would Donald Trump stand for a levy on Levi’s? It’s not the first time this battle has played out.
When the US president announced tariffs on steel and aluminium in his first term, the EU responded with its own – including a symbolic 25% tax on American whiskey.
At the time, the UK, then an EU member, followed suit.
But as the UK tries to carve its own path outside the bloc, vindicated by the baseline 10% tariffs imposed instead of the EU’s rate of 20%, the aim is to avoid retaliation.
The government want us to know “all options are on the table” – but that is not how they want this to play out.
Sir Keir Starmer needs to choose between parents who want stronger action to tackle harmful content on children’s phones, or the “tech bros” who are resisting changes to their platforms, Baroness Harriet Harman has said.
Speaking to Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer noted that the prime minister met with the creators of hit Netflix drama Adolescence to discuss safety on social media, but she questioned if he is going to take action to “stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff” on their platforms where children can access it.
Sir Keir hosted a roundtable on Monday with Adolescence co-writer Jack Thorne and producer Jo Johnson to discuss issues raised in the series, which centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl, and the rise of incel culture.
The aim was to discuss how to prevent young boys being dragged into a “whirlpool of hatred and misogyny”, and the prime minister said the four-part series raises questions about how to keep young people safe from technology.
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Welcome back to the Politics Hub.
It’s the morning after the day before, with yesterday’s whirlwind of reaction to Donald Trump’s tariffs seeming to have calmed down.
Today is not expected to be nearly as Thursday, with the Commons not sitting and only a scattering of fringe events in the diary.
One thing that is noteworthy of 4 April 2025 is it marks the fifth year since Sir Keir Starmer became leader of the Labour Party.
Taking the party from the doldrums of Jeremy Corbyn’s loss in 2019 through to being prime minister, his tenure so far seems to have flown by.
Sky News chief political correspondent Jon Craig has written an as-ever excellent piece about his career, which you can read below.
Away from dates in the diary, Sky News economics and data editor Ed Conway is reporting that the last blast furnaces left in Britain could have their fate sealed within days as their Chinese owners cut off the supplies to keep them running.
As ever, developments like this in the UK’s waning steel sector will be seen by some as a personification of Britain’s decline, and will surely draw a political reaction.
Speaking to Sky News this morning on behalf of the government is Treasury minister James Murray, just after 7am.
And shadow chancellor Mel Stride will be on just after 8am for the Tories.
Thank you for joining us for live coverage of today’s events in British politics.
The day was dominated by the government’s response to Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs of 10% on UK imports, and his wider global tariffs that have seen stock markets tank.
Scroll down to read through what happened today, or use the key points above for the main news.
We’ll be back from 6am with more live coverage from Westminster as the fallout continues.
And if you missed tonight’s edition of Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge – fear not, you can watch it in full below.
Donald Trump has imposed immediate tariffs of 10% on all British exports to the US.
Niall Paterson talks to Sky’s business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso about what these tariffs might mean for British business, which sectors are exempt, and whether a further deal can be worked out.
“I suspect the opposition front bench are a bit drunk on chlorinated chicken.”
That was Labour MP Stella Creasey’s contribution to today’s Commons debate about Donald Trump’s tariffs.
She responded with – it’s fair to say – a fair degree of ridicule to Tory suggestions that Brexit had really helped the UK out, by ensuring we “only” got slapped with 10% tariffs and not 20% like the EU.
“Celebrating a tariff of 10% rather than 20% is like celebrating that when you got mugged, they only took your wallet and not your watch as well,” said the backbencher.
She told the business secretary it was in Britain’s interest to have a “close and stable trading relationship with Europe”, because “who knows what President Trump will bring next week?”
The Conservatives are “still trying to propagate the arguments of 2016”, she said, and “are a bit drunk on chlorinated chicken”.
The Manchester Arena terror attack was a “wake-up call”, the mother of victim Martin Hett tells Sophy Ridge.
Figen Murray says it made her reflect on what draws people towards terrorism, and what can be done about it.
She ended up doing a two-year MA in counter-terrorism.
“Less than four weeks after the attack, I went on national TV and publicly forgave the terrorist because I looked at the bigger picture,” she says.
“I thought, when you were a baby, you were innocent. Somebody poisoned your mind.
“And that poisoning of minds, after studying counter-terrorism, I felt really strongly about that.”
‘Important’ for youngsters to watch Adolescence
Murray has since been into schools around the country, seeing thousands of children and young people to help them recognise the signs of radicalisation and those falling victim to dangerous ideologies.
She welcomes this week’s news that Netflix series Adolescence – which has sparked a national conversation about young people being drawn to violence – will start being shown in schools.
“I think it’s absolutely important that young people see that programme, and they learn more about it,” she says.
Away from tariffs, and joining Sophy Ridge this evening is Figen Murray.
She’s the mother of Martyn Hett, one of the 21 victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
Murray has campaigned for some six years for a new law that makes venues protect people in the event of terror attacks – and it’s come into force today, named Martyn’s Law after her son.
She tells Sophy it “feels surreal” to have finally got to this point, and hopes that it’ll make a real difference.
“This was a targeted attack focused on young people deliberately,” she says, reflecting on the attack which killed her son.
“And this sort of thing should just never happen again. And hopefully Martyn’s Law will help prevent that sort of thing.”
What is the law?
The public inquiry into the bombing found “serious shortcomings” in the security provision from the Manchester Arena itself, contractors, and also the British Transport Police on the night of the attack.
Inquiry chair John Saunders blamed “failings and mistakes” for “missed opportunities” to lessen the death toll caused by bomber Salman Abedi.
Martyn’s Law, officially known as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, venues with a capacity of between 200 and 799 will have to take steps such as training staff to lock doors and identify a route to safety.
Venues with a capacity of 800 or more will be required to make changes such as installing CCTV systems or hiring security staff.
Murray says she was “shocked” that such measures weren’t in existence when she and her husband went out together in Manchester some 18 months after the attack.
“I started a petition online and that’s snowballed into this big, big campaign that came to a conclusion this morning.”
‘He was full of life and joy’
Murray says her son was a “party animal” and would “throw the biggest party ever” to celebrate the success of her campaign.
“He was just full of life and joy,” she tells Sophy.
“He had this incredible ability to make everyone feel that they are the most important person at that moment in his life – and that’s a real skill.
“And I really miss that.”
The business secretary gave a statement in the House of Commons earlier in which he touted “possible retaliatory action” against the US for the tariffs it has imposed.
This afternoon, the government published a document with a list of potential areas for tariffs that could be imposed on US imports to the UK.
But it is anything but succinct – it runs to more than 400 pages, with more than 8,000 potential categories of goods.
Our chief political correspondent Jon Craig has gone through the list, and picked out some (possibly quite strange) examples of goods the UK imports from the US that could be subject to tariffs.
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