Helena Horton is a Guardian environment reporter.

Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union, told the Guardian he is concerned the beef imported from the US will be produced to a lower standard than the UK product. He said:

80% of our beef diet comes from grass so it’ll be interesting to see exactly what the standards for the imported beef is. We are unclear on that as the details are still being worked on.

Many beef cattle are fed with soy, which can be bad for the environment as it comes from sensitive areas including the Amazon rainforest.

Bradshaw said the “main focus” in their recent lobbying was on hormone-treated beef, but said “the large US beef lots were also a big concern for our members – we will be watching that very closely.”

The US has vast factory farms for its beef, which outcompete those in the UK, farmers fear. Bradshaw added:

What we need to look at is how the US beef is produced, what are the health and welfare standards and what is the diet. Our beef is one of the most sustainable in the world.

However, he said he was pleased the UK secured reciprocal access to the beef market, adding:

We’ve had a very clear ask that we wanted reciprocal access back, and the red lines on animal health and welfare standards have thankfully been maintained. We cannot see agriculture used as a pawn to shoulder the burden of tariffs.

US Agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said she hopes to expand today’s agreement to include “all meats” and that she will be visiting the UK next week to make this point, adding: “There is no industry that has been treated more unfairly than our agriculture industry.”

Bradshaw replied “good luck with that,” adding: “The government is trying to negotiate with the EU at the same time so that sounds unfeasible.”

In the Commons Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, responded to Douglas Alexander on behalf of the Conservative party. He was also critical of the US-UK trade deal, although his language was more parliamentary than Kemi Badenoch’s. (See 5.03pm.) He said the deal did not go far enough.

If I’ve understood the minister correctly, we’re still not back to the position as it was at the beginning of February.

British goods will still be more expensive in the US than they were before. For all the special relationship, that puts us in the same category of countries as Burundi and Bhutan.

And more than what’s in this deal today is what is not. From the little the government has shared, it’s clear that the deal doesn’t go anything like far enough. It’s a Diet Coke deal, not the real thing.

Business leaders have welcomed the US-UK trade deal.

Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

This deal will be met with a huge sigh of relief by many British businesses.

The reduction in the 25% tariffs on most of our automotive exports and the removal of levies on steel and aluminium are the biggest wins.

These sectors had been left reeling as jobs, investment and sales were all cut or put on hold. This framework agreement will give them some much needed certainty. They will be keen to see it quickly enacted so they can swiftly re-establish orders and supply chains.

The news on aerospace, including jet engines is also good news, as is additional protection from tariffs on our pharmaceutical sector.

But this must not be the end of the process; we must continue to push the argument for free and fair trade across all economic sectors and that tariffs are a lose-lose position.

And Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI, said:

This week, the UK government should be commended for securing a trade deal with India and now the US. A clear message is being sent to the international community: the UK is a fierce advocate of free and fair trade and a reliable partner with whom to do business.

As one of our largest trading partners, a strong relationship with the US will always be welcomed by business to bolster our mutual competitiveness and kickstart growth. Today’s agreement must pave the way for deeper cooperation, making both of our economies prosper and grow.

Helena Horton is a Guardian environment reporter.

The US-UK trade deal includes £5bn worth of agricultural exports. The farming sector in the UK has been very concerned about farmers being undercut with cheap products from the US, which has lower environmental standards for its food than the UK. They say the large beef feedlots in the US outcompete the smaller farms in the UK.

US agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters:

This [trade deal] is going to exponentially increase our beef exports. American beef is the crown jewel of American agriculture for the world.

UK ministers have been clear that chlorinated chicken and hormone treated beef will not be included in any deal, but Rollins said she hopes to expand today’s agreement to include “all meats” and that she will be visiting the UK next week to make this point, adding: “There is no industry that has been treated more unfairly than our agriculture industry.”

Donald Trump, however, mentioned that US agriculture could end up being produced to higher health and environmental standards under the leadership of his health chief Robert F Kennedy, adding: “Bobby Kennedy is probably heading towards your system.”

Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs sources said imports of hormone treated beef or chlorinated chicken will remain illegal, and that the deal will open up exclusive access for UK beef farmers to the US market. They said only a few countries such as Australia have this access.

In the Commons Douglas Alexander, the trade minister, told MPs that he regarded the US-UK trade deal as a matter of “jobs saved”, not “job done”. But he also said that, in getting a deal, Keir Starmer had succeeded where two previous Conservative PMs had failed.

In response to calls for MPs to get a vote on the trade deal, Alexander confirmed there were no plans to change the current arrangements – which do not require a vote.

He said that, despite claims that the deal would involve concessison on the digital services tax and on the Online Safety Act, neither of these things happened.

In relation to the digital services tax, there is no change to the United Kingdom’s digital services tax as a consequence of the agreement that has been reached today.

And I know that there has been widespread concern … in relation to measures tackling the evil of online harm. Again, there has been no change as a consequence of the agreement that we reached in the United States today.

The National Farmers Union has welcomed aspects of the US-UK trade deal, but expressed concerns in particular about the tariff on ethanol being lifted.

Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president, said:

For several years, we’ve campaigned with the UK’s agricultural attachés in Washington for market access for British beef, a product globally respected for its quality and strong environmental credentials. These efforts have contributed to enabling the UK government to secure ring-fenced access for British beef exports to the US.

However, the inclusion of a significant volume of bioethanol in the deal raises concerns for British arable farmers. We’ll be engaging closely with our members to help them understand and prepare for the potential impact.

Our biggest concern is that two agricultural sectors [beef and ethanol] have been singled out to shoulder the heavy burden of the removal of tariffs for other industries in the economy. While we understand this, we also know that today is the start, not the end, of a process and UK agriculture cannot continue to shoulder such imbalances in future negotiations.

In the Commons Douglas Alexander, the trade minister, is making a statement about the US-UK trade deal.

Alexander started by suggesting that, because the announcement came later than expected, he thought it would be “more courteous” to deliver the statement on Monday.

Many MPs have gone home, and the chamber is relatively empty.

Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, he objected. He said earlier in the day he cancelled an urgent question on the trade deal because the government promised a statement, and he said Alexander should go ahead.

He also said he would expect the government to follow up with full details on Monday.

The TUC has welcomed the US-UK trade deal. Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said:

It’s right that the government has taken urgent action to protect good quality jobs up and down the country after Trump’s arbitrary tariffs threatened to take a wrecking ball to our automotive and manufacturing sectors.

This agreement takes us back from the brink and many workers will breathe easier as a result.

Nowak said the TUC would need to see the detail of the deal before coming to a fuller judgment.

He also said the government should now focus on “securing a closer trading relationship with the EU”.

Kemi Badenoch, who is a fan of social media, has been reading Truth Social, where Donald Trump has posted these messages about the US-UK trade deal.

Today is an incredible day for America as we deliver our first Fair, Open, and Reciprocal Trade Deal — Something our past Presidents never cared about. Together with our strong Ally, the United Kingdom, we have reached the first, historic Trade Deal since Liberation Day. As part of this Deal, America will raise $6 BILLION DOLLARS in External Revenue from 10% Tariffs, $5 BILLION DOLLARS in new Export Opportunities for our Great Ranchers, Farmers, and Producers, and enhance the National Security of both the U.S. and the UK through the creation of an Aluminum and Steel Trading Zone, and a secure Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. This Deal shows that if you respect America, and bring serious proposals to the table, America is OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Many more to come — STAY TUNED!

Based on these figures, Badenoch said in a statement:

When Labour negotiates, Britain loses.

We cut our tariffs — America tripled theirs.

Keir Starmer called this ‘historic.’ It’s not historic, we’ve just been shafted!

In fact, the UK was shafted in early April, when President Trump announced his global tariffs. Today’s outcome amounts to a partial unshafting – but not a total one, as Keir Starmer sort of accepted during his Q&A. (See 4.33pm).

When Trump announced his global tariffs, the Tories issued a news release saying this was “disappointing news”. But they criticised Labour for not negotiating exemptions, and they said Britain was getting a Brexit bonus because its tariffs were lower than the EU’s (a situation that lasted only a week, because Trump subsequently suspended the additional tariffs that applied to the EU).

Q: Were you bounced into this today? You did not seem to be expecting it today?

Starmer says he did not know the exact day this would be announced. If he had planned it, he would not have had his final phone call on the deal with Trump halfway through the second half of the Arsenal match last night, he jokes.

(Starmer is a huge Arsenal fan. So this was a new revelation about the sacrifices he has had to make in the national interest.)

Q: How do you know President Trump won’t just post something on Truth Social ripping this all up?

Starmer says there is a written text. He says he and Trump trust each other.

We respect each other, the president and I, and we trust each other, and have trusted each other through this process, each of us mandating our negotiating teams to get the best deal for our respective countries.

Starmer is now taking questions.

Q: [From the BBC’s Chris Mason] Is the UK better off under this deal than it was six months ago, before President Trump introduced his tariffs?

Starmer rejects the premise of the question.

The question you should be asking is, is it better than where we were yesterday?

And I think if you should come out when you finished asking me questions and talk to the workforce here, because what this does is to reduce to zero the tariffs on steel and aluminium. Look how important that is.

Reduces massively from 27.5% to 10% of tariffs on the cars that we export – so important to JLR, actually to the sector generally. But JLR in particular, who sell so many cars into the American market.

And of course, it also includes pharmaceuticals, some really important measures. Obviously, we don’t have tariffs yet [in pharmaceuticals], but we’ve got within the deal significantly preferential treatment whatever happens in the future. So this is hugely important for our pharmaceutical sector as well.

In addition to that, we said we had red lines on standards, particularly in agriculture. We’ve kept to those standards.

In his opening remarks, Keir Starmer also included a passage best understood as a dig at Ed Davey (who has been repeatedly urging Starmer to distance himself from Trump). Starmer said:

In recent years, an idea has taken hold, that you somehow show your strength by rejecting your allies, that you shut the door, put the phone down …

I’ve had plenty of people urging me to do that, rather than stay in the room and fight for the interests of our country.

And I want to be absolutely crystal clear, that is not how this government operates. It’s never how we will operate. We don’t storm off, we stay in the room and we negotiate.

Keir Starmer is at a Jaguar Land Rover factory. Summing up the deal, he says:

This is a deal that will protect British businesses and save thousands of jobs In Britain, really important, skilled, well paid jobs. It will remove tariffs on British steel and aluminium, reducing them to zero. It will provide vital assurances for our life sciences sector, so important to our economy, and grant unprecedented market access for British farmers without compromising our high standards.

And he says the deal means US tariffs on cars from the UK will be cut from 27.5% to 10% for 100,000 vehicles every year.

He claims that, as he negoiated the deal, he kept his focus on the needs of car workers.

In politics, what matters sometimes is who you have in your mind’s eye when you’re making these deals. Who do you have in your mind’s eye when you’re taking decisions? But what I took away from here last time [I was here] was you and the brilliant work that you do, and had you in my mind’s eye as we did that.

Trump is now taking questions.

Q: You said this was as comprehensive deal. But Peter Mandelson has said this is only a starting point.

Trump does not accept the premise of the question. He says this is a “maxed-out deal”.

Peter Mandelson, the UK ambassador to the US is speaking in the White House now.

He says President Trump took the deal “to another level”.

And he jokes about an 11ht hour intervention from the Americans, “demanding even more out of this deal than any of us expected”.

He goes on:

For us, it’s not the end, it’s the end just of the beginning. There is yet more we can do in reducing tariffs and trade barriers so as to open up our markets to each other even more than we are agreeing to do today.

But it also provides us with the platform, the springboard to do what I think will be even more valuable for both our countries in the future – and that’s creating a technology partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom so that we can harness science and technology in order to create future industries and future jobs.

Starmer pays tribute to the US negotiating team.

He says the timing of this could not be more apt – on the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

At that time the UK and the US were the closest of allies.

He says Churchill announced victory in Europe at almost exactly this time of day 80 years ago.

There are no two countries closer than the US and the UK in defence and intelligence sharing, he says.

And he says now trade and economic policy have been added to the areas where they are close to each other.

On tech, the UK and the US are the only countries with $1tr tech sectors, he says.

He says this deal will be “an incredible platform for the future”.

Sky News is now broadcasting audio of Donald Trump speaking on a call to Keir Starmer.

After talking about the rare earth minerals deal with the Ukraine, Trump says “thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom”.

Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.

John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland, has said he will vote against a bill to legalise assisted dying in Scotland, arguing it could put the vulnerable and weak under too much pressure and damage the doctor-patient relationship.

Swinney’s position, set out before a stage one vote in Holyrood on a new bill next week, was expected by advocates of the right to assisted dying but will be a blow to their campaign.

The vote on Tuesday will test whether MSPs want the bill to be properly examined and amended before a final vote later this year.

Speaking to reporters in his office at Holyrood, Swinney said he had “agonised” about the issue after meeting numerous constituents who had urged him to support the measure. “This is an incredibly finely-balanced judgement,” he said.

But he confirmed he was against it on principle, having previously voted against it when two previous bills were tabled at Holyrood.

He could not “disassociate” the debate from his Christian faith and acknowledged his wife’s terminal illness with multiple sclerosis heavily influenced his thinking. “I can’t contemplate that conversation with my wife,” he said.

He said the new bill by Liam McArthur, the Scottish Lib Dem MSP, was far better drafted than its predecessors, and could be strengthened to add greater protections for the vulnerable, but he still believed it would “fundamentally alter” the onus on doctors to preserve life. He said the challenge for government was to ensure palliative care was far better.

More than 40 Labour MPs have warned the prime minister that planned disability cuts are “impossible to support” and have called for a pause and change in direction, Jessica Elgot reports.

There is a full list of the Labour MPs who have signed the letter here.

UPDATE: Here is the full text of the letter.

The Government’s Green Paper on welfare reform has caused a huge amount of anxiety and concern among disabled people and their families. The planned cuts of more than £7bn represent the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity and over three million of our poorest and most disadvantaged will be affected.

Whilst the government may have correctly diagnosed the problem of a broken benefits system and a lack of job opportunities for those who are able to work, they have come up with the wrong medicine. Cuts don’t create jobs, they just cause more hardship.

Ministers therefore need to delay any decisions until all the assessments have been published into the impact the cuts will have on employment, health and increased demand for health and social care. This is likely to be in the Autumn and only then will MPs be able to vote knowing all the facts.

In the meantime, the much needed reform of the benefits system needs to begin with a genuine dialogue with disabled people’s organisations to redesign something that is less complex and offers greater support, alongside tackling the barriers that disabled people face when trying to find and maintain employment. We also need to invest in creating job opportunities and ensure the law is robust enough to provide employment protections against discrimination.

Without a change in direction, the Green Paper will be impossible to support.

And here is the full list of MPs who have signed it.

Diane Abbott MP
Paula Barker MP
Lee Barron MP
Lorraine Beavers MP
Apsana Begum MP
Olivia Blake MP
Richard Burgon MP
Dawn Butler MP
Ian Byrne MP
Stella Creasy MP
Neil Duncan-Jordan MP
Cat Eccles MP
Barry Gardiner MP
Mary Glindon MP
Sarah Hall MP
Chris Hinchliff MP
Imran Hussain MP
Terry Jermy MP
Kim Johnson MP
Mary Kelly Foy MP
Peter Lamb MP
Ian Lavery MP
Brian Leishman MP
Emma Lewell MP
Clive Lewis MP
Rebecca Long-Bailey MP
Rachael Maskell MP
Andy McDonald MP
John McDonnell MP
Abtisam Mohamed MP
Grahame Morris MP
Charlotte Nichols MP
Simon Opher MP
Kate Osborne MP
Richard Quigley MP
Andrew Ranger MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Zarah Sultana MP
Jon Trickett MP
Chris Webb MP
Nadia Whittome MP
Steve Witherden MP

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson ducked questions about whether President Trump was right to say the US-UK trade deal is “full and comprehensive”. (See 11.31am.)

Asked if this was right, the spokesperson said:

We’ve always been clear that we want to do a deal that’s in the British national interest, and support a substantial UK-US trading relationship. Those talks are continuing and we look forward to providing an update later today.

The spokesperson also said that Keir Starmer would be describing it in his own words when he speaks later today.

Trump’s language is best understood by reference to a famous passage in his 1987 book Art of the Deal where he said, essentially, it was always good to exaggerate. Trump said:

The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.

I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration – and a very effective form of promotion.

That was almost 40 years ago. Since then Trump has become a bit less fussy about the “truthful” bit, but it remains a useful description of his outlook.

James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, was non-committal when asked about the US-UK trade deal in interviews this morning. (See 7.54am). Earlier this week the Conservative party initially welcome the UK-India trade deal – before criticising it about half an hour later, once Tories had had time to look at the detail.

But the Tory MP Julian Smith, a former chief whip, has praised the government for its work on this deal. He posted this on social media.

Politics & details aside, today’s trade deal with the US is testament to the patient, mediation-led approach @Keir_Starmer & his team have taken to the US over recent months. Quiet diplomacy has led the UK to the front of the queue.

At the Bank of England press conference, Andrew Bailey, the governor, said it was “excellent” news that the UK and the US have agreed a trade deal. But he said the UK economy would still be impacted by the effect of US tariffs on global trade.

He said the Bank had not been briefed on what was in the deal. But he said the Bank welcomed the news that a deal has been agreed. He went on:

We welcome that news. I very much welcome it, and I think it’s very well done to those involved. And the reason for saying that is that it will help to reduce uncertainty, and that’s important, as you’ll see in the context of what we’ve said today.

The UK is, though, a very open economy, so the UK is also affected by the way in which trade policy and tariffs affect, obviously, other economies – that is, in other words, the tariff measures that have been taken in respect of other economies.

I say that because I hope the UK agreement, if it is indeed announced this afternoon, will be the first of many. This will be good news all round, including for the UK economy.

But it is excellent, if it is indeed the case this afternoon, that the UK is leading the way. And I do congratulate both those in the UK who are involved, and those in the US too.

Graeme Wearden has full coverage of Bailey’s press conference on his business live blog.

In his post on Truth Social Donald Trump said that trade deal with the UK would be “full and comprehensive”. (See 11.31am.)

But commentators and journalists who have been briefed on what to expect are suggesting it will be much more limited.

Speaking on the Today programme this morning, Jonathan Haskel, an economics professor and a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, said:

People should remember that there’s a very big difference between trade deals and trade agreements.

Trade deals are limited and short-term and partial, just covering a few items. Trade agreements are broad based and long term.

Now, in his Truth Social post [the first one – see 6.59am] Mr Trump announced that this was a trade deal. So I’d urge people not to expect very much.

The Financial Times is reporting that “British officials acknowledge [the deal] will fall far short of the kind of comprehensive post-Brexit free trade agreement targeted by the past Conservative government”.

In its report on the trade deal, the New York Times says:

Timothy C. Brightbill, an international trade attorney at Wiley Rein, said the announcement would probably be “just an agreement to start the negotiations, identifying a framework of issues to be discussed in the coming months.”

“We suspect that tariff rates, nontariff barriers and digital trade are all on the list — and there are difficult issues to address on all of these,” he added.

This how Politico sums up what we are expecting.

This was never meant to be a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S., of the sort that previous Tory governments tried and failed to win. Instead, this had been pitched by U.K. officials as a narrow economic pact to avoid tariffs and work together on AI and critical tech. How narrow or otherwise, we should know soon.

And Sky News is reporting that nothing will actually be signed today. It says:

No physical UK-US trade document will be signed today, Sky News understands.

That’s because the announcement from London and Washington is around what’s being described as the general terms of an agreement, rather than a full fat trade deal.

A big India-style agreement, this is not.

Bank of England policymakers have cut interest rates by a quarter point to 4.25% to cushion the UK economy against the impact of Donald Trump’s trade war, Heather Stewart reports.

Graeme Wearden has more on this on his business live blog. He will be covering the Bank of England’s press conference starting at 12.30pm.

Ministers have insisted that food standards were a “red line” in the trade talks with the US.

During environment questions, in response to a question from the Lib Dem Tim Farron, Steve Reed, the environment secretary, said:

We have been crystal clear – we have red lines in this. We will not be allowing British farmers to be undercut on environmental or welfare standards in the way that the Conservatives did when they agreed a trade deal with Australia that undercut British farmers and caused immense damage to them.

And, during business questions, in response to a question from the Tory Mark Pritchard, the leader of the Commons, Lucy Powell, said:

[Pritchard] will be aware that the issues that he raises of food standards and agriculture have been red lines for this government in those trade talks, and he will get the details later today.

Labour is being urged to safeguard the future of the BBC by mutualising it. Under the plan, set out in a report from the leftwing thinktank Common Wealth, all UK residents would become “members” of the BBC, with a members council, selected by lot, helping to oversee how it is run.

Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, spoke in favour of the mutualistion concept when she was an opposition MP and the thinktank hopes to persuade her to revive the idea. It says:

When the next BBC Royal Charter takes effect, interactive digital platforms and personalised streaming services will have replaced broadcasting as the central means by which we make sense of the world through news, entertainment and culture. The BBC will either take a leading role in this new media and communications landscape, or it will fade into irrelevance.

If the BBC is to survive and flourish it will need to become a new kind of institution, one in which the active and direct participation of citizens informs and invigorates the BBC’s public service mission. This is why we agree with Lisa Nandy that mutualisation is the right way forward for the BBC. Without it, the BBC faces a bleak future of dwindling audiences, collapsing funding and continued political interference.

Welcoming the report, the Labour MP Alex Sobel said:

Public control of the BBC through co-operative ownership is the most sustainable option for our national broadcasting service. It’s absolutely right that those who fund the BBC are given a substantial say in how their money is spent. That’s why launching a transparent system of public representation and participation to replace the top down-monolithic decision-making structure is long overdue.

Donald Trump has posted a new message about the US-UK trade deal due to be announced this afternoon. In a post on his Truth Social network, he claims it will be “full and comprehensive” – despite experts saying that what is likely to be announced will be much more limited than the sort of full-spectrum trade agreement recently announced between the UK and India.

Trump also claims that it is a “great honour” to have the UK as the recipient of the first trade deal signed since he upended world trade by imposing global tariffs – prompting dozens of countries to head to the US offering deals that might persuade Trump to reduce the tariffs he had imposed on them.

Trump said:

The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come. Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement. Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!

Lucy Powell, the leader of the Commons, has given an unequivocal apology for appearing to suggest that politicians raise concerns about grooming gangs as a “dog whistle”.

Speaking in the Commons this morning, she went further than she did at the weekend when she issued a statement that she said was intended to “clarify” what she meant, adding that she was “sorry if this was unclear”.

Powell was on the Radio 4’s Any Questions at the end of last week when a fellow panellist, the Reform UK- supporting commentator Tim Montgomerie, started talking about grooming gangs. Powell replied:

Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Yeah, OK, let’s get that dog whistle out.

The phrase “dog whistle” is used in politics to refer to language that contains hidden meaning for a particular audience – normally in a way that signifies support for racist views, without that being explicit.

During business questions, Jesse Norman, the shadow leader of the Commons said that Powell’s comment was “indefensible” and that her statement at the weekend “conspicuously did not contain an apology”.

In response, Powell thanked Normal for raising this issue and said she wanted to be “absolutely clear” in her message to MPs, and also to victims and survivors of abuse. She went on:

I am very sorry for those remarks, as I made clear over the weekend.

I and every member of this government want your truth to be heard wherever that truth leads. Your truly appalling experiences need to be acted on, for those responsible to be accountable and face the full force of the law and for justice to be served.

I would never want to leave the impression that these very serious, profound and far-reaching issues, which I have campaigned on for many years, should be shied away from and not aired. Far from it. No stone will be left unturned.

And what the victims want first and foremost is for actions to be taken and for the many, many recommendations from the previous inquiry to be implemented in full, including mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse – something I have called for for nearly a decade. Shockingly, these recommendations remain sitting on the shelf until we came into government last year.

George Osborne is right, according to the Labour party. Or at least right about Kemi Badenoch. Labour has put out a press statement highlighting comments from the former Tory chancellor in an interview with Andrew Marr on LBC last night. Speaking about Badenoch, Osborne said:

I think it’s certainly the case that Kemi Badenoch made a reputation for herself and speaks very effectively and with passion on culture war issues, transgender rights and the like.

But that’s what helps you be the rising star. I don’t think it sustains you as a risen star. I think to be the leader of the opposition, you have to be someone who offers the country a credible economic plan. And there is a bit of a gap in the market. No one at the moment has got a plan that certainly has convinced the public is going to grow the British economy.’

Commenting on the interview, a Labour party spokesperson said:

George Osborne says out loud what other Tories are thinking: Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative party has no plan for our country. She is more concerned about fighting with Nigel Farage than fighting for working people.

Osborne also made it clear that he does not think Keir Starmer has persuaded the public Labour has a credible economic plan for the country either. But presumably Labour HQ does not agree with him about that.

Steve Reed, the environment secretary, has accused the opposition of trying to “weaponise” tragedy after his Tory opposite number claimed farmers are taking their lives because of Labour’s inheritance tax policy.

The government announced in the budget last year that more valuable farms will lose their exemption from inheritance tax. Older farmer have complained that, having planned on the basis that they will be able to leave their farms to their children without an inheritance tax liability, they have had little time to make alternative arrangements before the tax change comes into force in April next year.

Speaking during environment questions in the Commons, Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, said:

Before Christmas, I warned the secretary of state that a farmer had taken their own life because they were so worried about the family farm tax. He responded with anger and later stopped the farming resilience fund, which helped farmers with mental ill health.

This week, I have received the devastating news that several more farmers have taken their own lives because of the family farm tax. This is the secretary of state’s legacy, but he can change it, because it is not yet law.

Will he set out these tragedies to the prime minister, demand that Labour policy is changed, or offer an appointed principal his resignation?

In his reply, Reed said he was sorry that Atkins was seeking “to politicise personal tragedy in this way”. He went on:

I think it’s immensely, immensely regrettable that she would seek to do that. None of us have been sure what happens in matters of personal tragedy. But I think it’s beneath her, actually, to try to weaponise it in a way that she has done this.

This government takes the issues of mental health very, very seriously indeed. That is why we are setting up mental health hubs in every community so that we can support farmers and others who are suffering from mental health, which I would again remind her is a problem that escalated during her time in office the secretary of state for health, where she failed to address the problems people are facing.

Keir Starmer used his speech to the London Defence Conference to announce a £563m contract for Rolls-Royce for the maintenance of Britain’s fleet of Typhoon fighter jets. “The work to maintain 130 Typhoon engines will take place at Rolls-Royce’s sites, supporting hundreds of jobs in Bristol and beyond,” No 10 said.

He also said that British workers would gain from what he described as the “defence dividend” – the benefits to be had from the government’s decision to increase defence spending. Starmer said:

Our task now is to seize the defence dividend – felt directly in the pockets of working people, rebuilding our industrial base and creating the jobs of the future.

A national effort. A time for the state, business and society to join hands, in pursuit of the security of the nation and the prosperity of its people.

An investment in peace, but also an investment in British pride and the British people to build a nation that, once again, lives up to the promises made to the generation who fought for our values, our freedom and our security.

The phrase “defence dividend” is an allusion to the term “peace dividend” – which referred to the advantage Britain and other western countries gained at the end of the cold war when they could cut defence spending, meaning more government money was available for other priorities.

What Starmer refers to as the “defence dividend” has been funded in part by huge cuts to aid spending. But Starmer has repeatedly sought to show that his policy will bring, not just defence gains, but employment gains too.

Keir Starmer has said that acting in the national interest has been his priority in the talks on the UK-US trade deal expected to be announced later.

Speaking to the London Defence Conference, Starmer:

Talks with the US have been ongoing and you’ll hear more from me about that later today.

But make no mistake, I will always act in our national interest, for workers, businesses and families, to deliver security and renewal for our country.

The Green party is joining the Liberal Democrats (see 8.05am) in demanding that MPs get a vote on the proposed US-UK trade deal (as well as the UK-India one). The Green MP Ellie Chowns posted this on Bluesky.

Reports that Labour may scrap the Digital Services Tax to secure a trade deal with Trump are deeply concerning. I’m urging the govt to guarantee MPs get a vote on any such deal. MPs must have a say in decisions that affect our digital economy and ability to tax corporate giants.

In 2021 the Labour party published a policy paper saying it would give MPs a vote on trade deals. It said:

We will reform the parliamentary scrutiny of trade agreements, so that MPs have a guaranteed right to debate the proposed negotiating objectives for future trade deals, and a guaranteed vote on the resulting agreements, with sufficient time set aside for detailed scrutiny both of the draft treaty texts, and of accompanying expert analysis on the full range of implications, including for workers’ rights.

In the Commons, Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has repeatedly pressed Keir Starmer to confirm that he will give MPs a vote on the proposed US-UK trade deal. But Starmer has refused to commit to this. When this last come up, he told Davey: “If [a deal] is secured, it will go through the known procedures for this house.”

This was a reference to the CRAG (Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010) process – which does not guarantee MPs get to vote on treaties.

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, picking up from Martin Belam.

Here is a timetable for what we are expecting today. We will be mostly focused on the US-UK trade deal announcement, but there will be some other politics too.

9am: Keir Starmer gives a speech at the London defence conference. He is not expected to take questions.

9.30am: Steve Reed, the environment secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

10.30am: Lucy Powell, the leader of the Commons, takes questions on next week’s Commons business.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Noon: Starmer and other political leaders join the king and queen in Westminster Abbey for the service to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

After 12pm: After the two minutes’ silence to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the Bank of England announces its interest rate.

After 12pm: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, takes questions from MSPs.

3pm (UK time): Donald Trump is due to make his announcement in the White House about the US-UK trade deal. He posted this on his Truth Social account earlier.

Afternoon: Starmer is expected to make a statement about the trade deal.

The Liberal Democrats treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper has reiterated the party’s position that any trade deal with the US should be put to parliament for approval before being ratified, saying Labour “should not be afraid” of a vote if they are confident a deal is in the country’s best interests.

Cooper, the MP for St Albans, said in a statement:

Parliament must be given a vote on this US trade deal so it can be properly scrutinised.

A good trade deal with the US could bring huge benefits, but Liberal Democrats are deeply concerned that it may include measures that threaten our NHS, undermine our farmers or give tax cuts to US tech billionaires.

If the government is confident the agreement it has negotiated with Trump is in Britain’s national interest, it should not be afraid to bring it before MPs.

The defence secretary has said he is confident that UK negotiators will secure “a good deal with the US”, describing the country as “an indispensable ally for our economic security.”

John Healey declined to comment on the timing of any update from Keir Starmer, which No 10 said would happen today. Asked whether it was correct that Donald Trump was going to make an announcement at 3pm UK time, and whether Starmer would speak at the same time, Healey said “I don’t account for the movements in Downing Street.”

Appearing on Sky News the defence secretary reiterated his lines from an earlier Times Radio interview, saying:

We’ve been conducting hard negotiations with the US ever since Keir Starmer went to the White House in February, trying to secure any good economic deal for Britain.

And during that time, I have to say, ministers like me have stepped back and refrained from commenting on those discussions in order to give the negotiators the space to secure the best possible deal for Britain. So any live discussions or timelines really aren’t for me.

He was pressed on Sky News on whether a US trade deal would have repercussions for the NHS, farm workers and steelworkers in the UK. He said:

I’m not going to comment on potential content of any economic deal or timelines. What I will say is that for steelworkers like those in sconthorpe, they’ve seen now a UK Government, a Labour government, willing to step in to secure the future of their industry.

And as defence secretary, you know, I’m going to make sure that the increased defence spending that we will use to secure our defence for the future also brings a premium – a dividend, if you like – and is measured in more British jobs, more British apprentices, more successful British firms right across the country.

Keir Starmer will give an update on the prospects for a UK-US trade deal later today, it has been announced.

PA Media reports a Number 10 spokesperson said:

The prime minister will always act in Britain’s national interest – for workers, for business, for families. The US is an indispensable ally for both our economic and national security. Talks on a deal between our countries have been continuing at pace and the prime minister will update later today.

Defence secretary John Healey is appearing on Sky News at the moment, speaking from Westminster ahead of VE Day commemorations later today.

He has already appeared earlier on Times Radio, where he was coy about commenting on the prospects for a UK-US trade deal. PA Media report he told listeners of that station:

It’s certainly true that the US is an indispensable ally for the UK, both on economic and national security grounds. It’s also true that since the prime minister visited the White House in February we have been in detailed talks about an economic deal.

But I have to say, throughout that period, ministers like me have been keen to give the negotiations the space to get the best possible deal for the UK. So, we just haven’t been giving a running commentary on developments or timelines, so I’m not going to start now.

Donald Trump is expected to announce the framework of a trade agreement with the UK after teasing a major announcement with a “big and highly respected, country.”

The specifics of any agreement were not immediately clear and there was no comment from the White House or the British embassy in Washington on whether an actual deal had been reached or if the framework would need further negotiation. Any agreement would mark the first such deal for the administration since it imposed sweeping tariffs against trade partners last month.

In a post on Truth Social previewing the announcement, Trump was vague and did not disclose the country or the terms.

“Big news conference tomorrow morning at 10:00am, the Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.