The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to launch a “buy British” campaign in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs on UK goods.
Lib Dem Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper urged the Chancellor to commit to the initiative during Commons questions yesterday.
Doubling down on the proposal today, Cooper told GB News: “The fact of the matter is that people are sitting incredibly worried about what Trump’s trade war means for them, their standard of living, the impact on the high street and on British businesses. People want to be able to do something about it.
“We’re calling on the government to take other measures, whether that’s stopping the jobs tax or reforming the business rate system.
Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper pushed her “buy British” campaign
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“We also think the government should be launching a big national effort to encourage people to buy British where they can, and to make sure there’s enough transparency about where products come from so people can make those informed choices if they choose to do so.
She added: “We already have Made in Britain, which is a fantastic campaign that identifies items that have been manufactured here.
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“We all celebrate Small Business Saturday, where we encourage people to go out on a Saturday and go and look for local items that are produced locally by small businesses to support our high streets.
“It’s sort of in our DNA to do this, but what we Liberal Democrats have said to the government is, we want the government to go out and work with our European and Commonwealth allies to create new export markets so that British businesses can export abroad, and that British products can be sold around the world.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves firmly rejected the proposal in the Commons. She said: “Ratcheting up barriers to trade, ratcheting up tariffs will not be in our country’s interests, whether that’s in inflation or indeed for supply chains.”
Downing Street echoed the Chancellor’s position but suggested a balanced approach was possible.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves rejected the proposal in the Commons
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Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “Well, of course, we’re an open-trading nation.”
The spokesman emphasised the government’s desire for fewer trade barriers globally.
“At the same time, we also continue to prioritise and support British manufacturers, British producers,” he added.
Cooper also addressed the future of the steel industry in her interview with Eamonn Holmes and Ellie Costello on GB News.
She said: “The very first thing we want to see is steel to be identified and named by the government as a strategic sector.”
She called for more detail on how the government would use procurement strategy to boost British steel.
This could include “using more steel in our defence industry, or in our transition to net zero and in our renewable infrastructure,” Cooper explained.
