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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is heading to China, seeking a thaw in relations with Beijing at a time of strained ties with the United States. He's hoping for an economic boost to Britain, but risks the wrath of China hawks at home and of US President Donald Trump, who's already heaping tariffs and criticism on America's closest allies. Starmer is due to meet China's President Xi Jinping during the visit that starts Wednesday, the first by a UK leader since 2018. He is expected to be accompanied by UK Business Secretary Peter Kyle and dozens of corporate chiefs as Britain seeks Chinese technology and investment, alongside greater access to the world's second-largest economy for UK financial services, cars and Scotch whisky. "China is no longer just the world's factory; it is also becoming a global market," said Zhao Minghao, a professor in the Institute of International Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University. From golden era to big chill ----------------------------- Kerry Brow
Billions of pounds of tariff savings from Britain's free trade agreement with India could be jeopardised by deep cuts to UK export support staff helping firms use the deal in practice, an influential Parliament panel cautioned in a report on Wednesday. The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, with a remit to scrutinise the country's trade deals, released its analysis as the government tables the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in Parliament for ratification. It finds that initial duty savings for UK exporters to India could total400 million pounds a year, potentially rising up to3.2 billion pounds after 10 years as export volumes increase. "This is the biggest free trade deal since Brexit with the potential to deliver billions in tariff savings for UK exporters, boosting growth and creating new jobs," said committee chair Liam Byrne. "But Parliament is being asked to ratify a deal promising billions in tariff savings while the government is ...
The UK on Wednesday unveiled a series of stricter road safety norms, including Dev's Law named after an eight-year-old Indian-origin boy killed in a 2018 accident on a busy highway. The Department for Transport (DfT) said its new road safety strategy will save thousands of lives on UK roads by tackling drink driving, improving training for young learner drivers and introducing mandatory eye tests for older motorists. It will also make Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) compulsory in new vehicles, something Dev's mother Meera Naran has been campaigning for since losing her son in the tragic road collision over seven years ago. I welcome this much-anticipated road safety strategy and am pleased to see a number of measures set out to reduce road deaths and serious injuries, said Naran, a senior lecturer at De Montfort University in Leicester. I am especially grateful to the Secretary of State [Heidi Alexander] for giving me her word that she would honour Dev and recognise the importan
Iconic sweetmeat chain KC Das is eyeing a return to the United Kingdom after more than five decades, encouraged by the proposed India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and rising demand for authentic Indian food brands overseas. Dhiman Das, executive director of the legendary confectionery brand and a fifth-generation descendant of Nobin Chandra Das, the inventor of the rosogolla, said there is "huge scope" for Indian food businesses and restaurants in the UK market, particularly as the pact is expected to ease regulatory and tariff barriers for food exports. "We are actively looking for a suitable partner for the UK venture. The important thing is that the partner should be technically sound in dairy, as finance is not a critical issue," Das told PTI. "We are planning to set up a manufacturing base in Birmingham, which is relatively close to London, to cater to the metropolis market and adjoining regions. We have requested the Deputy High Commission in Kolkata to
A London court has allowed a plea by fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, wanted in India on fraud and money laundering charges, to adjourn a trial in an unrelated Bank of India unpaid loan case until March over UK prison delays. The 54-year-old accused, fighting extradition to India in the estimated USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam, was shifted from Thameside prison in south London to HMP Pentonville, north London, in October to facilitate an appearance at the High Court in London. At an online review hearing for the USD 8-million Bank of India case on Friday, Judge Simon Tinkler partially granted Nirav's application to adjourn the eight-day January trial by a few weeks until March 23 next year following delays by UK prison authorities in providing access to important legal paperwork. There must, in my judgment, be some doubt as to whether those papers will ever make their way to Mr Modi if they indeed currently still exist, Justice Tinkler noted. It does seem t
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed a new UK ambassador to the United States on Thursday, replacing a diplomat who was fired over his over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Christian Turner, currently the UK's permanent representative to the United Nations, will replace Peter Mandelson, who was sacked in September because of his friendship with Epstein. The appointment comes as US President Donald Trump has been critical of Europe and at a time when Starmer and his European peers are pushing to make sure that a US brokered peace plan between Russia and Ukraine does not leave Kyiv vulnerable. The United Kingdom and United States have a very special relationship, and Christian's extensive experience as an outstanding diplomat will support this uniquely close bond and ensure it continues to flourish," Starmer said. Turner, a veteran diplomat, will take on the role after US agreement. He was previously political director of the Foreign, Commonwealth and
The votes of British Indians must not be taken for granted by the major parties as the electorate is getting increasingly drawn towards the extremes on the right and left of the political divide, the British Indian Census 2025' reveals this week. The research by the 1928 Institute think tank, released in a House of Commons committee room in London on Tuesday, found that Indian diaspora support for the anti-immigration Reform UK tripled to match a similar rise in young voters backing the climate action focussed Green Party. While support for the governing Labour Party is still higher among British Indians than the national average, at 35 per cent compared to 22 per cent within the wider population, there has been a 13 per cent decline in this support. Meanwhile, the Opposition Conservatives have lost ground with a 12 per cent fall since 2019 and the Liberal Democrats registered no change at around 9 per cent support within the community. Political support among British Indians is ..
You trust the data put out by the United Kingdom but not the figures given by the Indian government, the Supreme Court on Thursday told the petitioners who claimed that authorities reported "alarmingly low" number of deaths due to adverse effects of Covid vaccine. A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing arguments on the pleas including the one which alleged that two women lost their lives in 2021 after taking the first dose of Covishield vaccine. It was alleged that after vaccination, both of them suffered from severe adverse effects following immunization. The top court reserved its order in the matter. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for petitioners in one of the pleas, said the same vaccine was used in the UK and India administered 30 times more jabs as compared to the UK. "The difference is so large that there seems to be a worrying discrepancy between the UK, which is putting its data transparently, and India which is hiding the data of deaths,