UK-US Trade and Tariffs

Debate between David Pinto-Duschinsky and Jonathan Reynolds

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[David Pinto-Duschinsky (Hendon) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—a joy as ever. I thank my right hon. Friend and the Prime Minister for their tireless efforts, which have secured the best, most powerful position available for our country. Of course, there is deep disappointment that tariffs have been levied, but the fact that they have been levied at the lowest band is a vindication of the Government’s strategy, and businesses I have spoken to—in Hendon and nationally—have been unanimous in their support for the Government’s approach. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the best way to stand up for Britain is through a cool, calm, collected and pragmatic approach, and that we must reject the knee- jerk response and calls for action on invented problems that some Opposition Members demand?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for his question. He has articulated our approach, which is that we are not complacent or happy; we are disappointed about any tariffs being imposed on the UK. We recognise that the lowest band has been applied to the UK, but that does not mean that we will not redouble our efforts to secure an agreement that offers a way through.

I am grateful for the support of my hon. Friend’s constituents. I hear in every part of the country that our approach is genuinely the one that businesses want us to take. It is calm—I am not sure whether it is cool—and, I hope, reassuring to businesses in my hon. Friend’s area. A lot of people are always offering advice in this area. At times, they are offering to escalate a conflict, and perhaps do not have a plan to de-escalate it, but this Government’s approach is always to pursue our national interest, work with partners, and look at the mutual benefits we could get from doing things right. I am extremely grateful for the support for that policy from Members in all parts of the House today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Pinto-Duschinsky and Jonathan Reynolds

Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his place. We have been in office for two months, and we have already set up the Horizon convictions redress scheme. Indeed, I was pleased to work with the former Minister, the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake), on creating the legal environment necessary to do that. The letters are an issue for the Ministry of Justice and its database. We have not sat on anything, and we have moved at pace to give people the compensation they deserve. We will continue to do that, and to work with those on the Opposition Front Bench to deliver what we all want to see.

[David Pinto-Duschinsky (Hendon) (Lab)]

T3. Many of my constituents in Hendon rely on the national minimum wage, but as we know from research, employers got away with failing to pay that wage to more than one in five workers who were due it under the last Government. Can the Secretary of State tell the House what steps his Department is taking to reverse that shameful legacy of weak enforcement?