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Downing Street will hope the cryptic but broadly positive noises from the White House keep coming, or at least don’t switch to the alternative, ahead of the prime minister’s trip to Washington expected soon.<\/p>\n
As fellow European leaders put the boot in over all the tariff talk \u2013 Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it “stupid” \u2013 Sir Keir was much more circumspect.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the negotiations with Brussels trundle on.<\/p>\n
The minister responsible for them, Nick Thomas-Symonds, rolled up in Brussels shortly after the prime minister, claiming the government will be a “ruthlessly pragmatic negotiator.”<\/p>\n
“The European Union is the UK’s biggest trading partner, with trade totalling \u2013 in 2023 \u2013 over \u00a3800bn,” Thomas-Symonds pointed out.<\/p>\n
“A study published last year showed that between 2021 and 2023, the goods EU businesses export to the UK were down by 32%, while UK goods exports to the EU were down by 27%.<\/p>\n
“That is not good for British business or European businesses, especially at a time when our economies need a kickstart,” he added.<\/p>\n
The government wants agreements on plant and animal health to remove barriers to agricultural and food trade, and a deal on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications.<\/p>\n
How much of this is achievable? <\/p>\n
One senior figure described the French as “prickly fish” in some of the discussions and said Germany was “effectively out of action” until after its general election later this month.<\/p>\n
And what might President Trump make of it all, with some in the UK advocating a deeper trading relationship with America and the spectre of tariffs still hovering if the president feels piqued?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Polling trends<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Here are two final straws in the wind to consider.<\/p>\n
A poll by Ipsos suggests 47% of Britons say Europe is most important to Britain \u2013 the highest percentage saying this since the question was first asked in 2019.<\/p>\n
This compares to 21% who say America.<\/p>\n
Another poll, by YouGov, puts Reform UK \u2013 proud champions of Donald Trump and of Brexit \u2013 ahead of both the Conservatives and Labour for the first time.<\/p>\n
The lead over Labour is within the margin of error, and the outcome of any single poll should be treated with some scepticism.<\/p>\n
But trends in polls do matter, and the trend has been an upward one for Reform.<\/p>\n
Its growth in support is something both the Conservatives and Labour are well aware of.<\/p>\n
Put both polls together and everything else you’ve just read in the last few minutes and you can see that both the diplomatic and political room for manoeuvre for the government is limited.<\/p>\n
And even those at the heart of the negotiations don’t know how things will actually turn out. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/picture><\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n