Watch my speech live from Jaguar Land Rover following my call with President Trump

Prime Minister, welcome back to JLR Solihull. I'm delighted to be here with you again and with our wonderful colleagues gathered around today as well. This is the biggest car manufacturing plant in the UK. Our incredible company has built cars here for 77 years. British innovation, British design, British engineering, manufactured here in the Midlands for the world, including the US of A. When you were with us just four weeks ago, I know you experienced just how wonderful this place was. It has wonderful people and it produces wonderful luxury products. Your commitment that day was to stand by us to the hilt. Your words to the hilt. And I'm delighted to be able to signal today that those words have been turned into a tariff deal with North America, with the US of A, which is significantly goes towards what we need as a company. It creates the certainty that we need to continue to invest going forward. Not only for JLR, but actually for the whole automotive industry in the UK. In the last hour, I've witnessed your discussion with President Trump where you finalised that deal. On behalf of 45,000 people in this company, 250,000 jobs we support in this country, thank you. I'd like to personally thank your team also, who I know have worked tirelessly to get this done over the last several weeks. We look forward to the continued work we can do together. This is not job done for the UK, but this is significant progress and we thank you so much for that. On behalf of our wonderful people, great British brands, the UK automotive industry and this wonderful nation, I'm delighted to welcome you to say a few words. Thank you. Thank you Adrian and thank you to all of you. It was fantastic to be with you, what was just a few weeks ago, and really fantastic to come back. Just a few moments ago I spoke to President Trump, the President of the United States, and I'm really pleased to announce to you, and I wanted to come to you to announce that, that we've agreed the basis of a historic economic prosperity deal. And that 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 for the great British cars that you make here that we see all around us, this deal means that the US tariffs will now be cut from 27.5% down to 10% for a hundred thousand vehicles every year. That's a huge and important reduction and I know from when I was last year, last year, it was in your minds when you knew the size of the tariff that would otherwise be in place. And to get that decrease was hugely important to me. And I can tell you my teams were working really hard on this deal, night and day for weeks. I was working with them. And 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? And what I took away from here last time was you and the brilliant work that you do, and had you in my mind's eye as we did that. And we've got scope now to increase that quota as we go forward. So this is not fixed, this is where we've got to, and all of these tariff cuts will come into place as soon as possible. And that's really important as well in relation to the work that you're doing and the brilliant cars that you make. And as Adrian has said, I was here with you just, as I say, a few weeks ago. And I promised you that I would deliver in the national interest. And today I'm really pleased to come back here to be able to look you in the eye and to say I've delivered on the promise I made to you. And that's why as soon as I knew this deal was coming in today, I said I want to come back to JLR to talk to the workforce there for whom this means so much. Now of course we are the first country to secure such a deal with the United States. And in an era of global insecurity and instability, that is so important. The great challenge of our age is to secure and to renew Britain. And that is what we're going to do. Acting in the national interest, shaping this new era, not being shaped by it. If it's not good for Britain, we won't do it. If it doesn't mean more money in people's pockets, we won't do it. If it doesn't mean security and renewal in every part of the country, we won't do it. But that doesn't mean we're turning inward. Instead, we're sending a message to the world that Britain is open for business, seeking trade agreements with India on Tuesday, with the US today, and working to boost trade with other partners too, including of course the EU with whom we have a really important meeting just a week on Monday. Making deals that will benefit working people. And you know, 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, storm off. 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, we work for our country with the national interest at the foremost of our mind. Because the other way of working doesn't deliver the benefits that working people need. So I also want to be clear, this is just the start. With the deal we've done today, we can say jobs saved, jobs won, not job done. Because we're more ambitious for what the UK and the US can do together. So we're hammering out further details to reduce barriers to trade with the United States across the board. We have 1.5 trillion pounds invested in each other's economies, creating 2.5 million jobs across both countries. And there are so many areas where I think we can do even more than that, and put pounds in the pockets of working people across the United Kingdom. As the two biggest services exporters in the world, we will bring down barriers, creating jobs in our thriving sectors, in Leeds, in Manchester, London, Birmingham. As the only two Western nations with trillion dollar tech sectors, we'll go further to deepen the partnership in new technologies to shape the innovations of the next century together, and create the jobs of the future. Because look, our history shows what we can achieve when we work together. And what timing for this deal, that we've agreed this deal on VE Day. 80 years ago today, Churchill was addressing the nation at the end of the Second World War, victory in Europe. And we were standing the United Kingdom with the United States on defence and security. And for 80 years, we've been the closest of partners. And today, we've added to that trade and the economy in the special relationship between us, defined by peace and economic prosperity. So it's for fitting today, that we renew the bond on the 80th anniversary of VE Day. I'm going to take some questions in a minute, then I do want to spend some time with you, because I know how important this is for you, and all of your work colleagues here, all of your families, who I know will have been worried about what is going to happen. Of course, they're worried, they're proud of what you do, worried about what might have happened. But not just you and your families, but your communities, and all the other jobs that depend on the work that you do here. You're iconic, we're proud of what you do. And when I promised you, we would do whatever we needed to do, to get to a position where we could ensure that your brilliant work continues and thrives in the future. I meant that, it was a promise made and a promise I always intended to deliver to you. And I'm trying to catch everybody's eyes, because as I say, in politics, what matters is who are you thinking about, who have you got in your mind's eye, when you're having those conversations, whether it's President Trump just now, or last night, halfway through the Arsenal game, or whether it's the team's negotiating, as they've been over weeks and days, particularly intensely in current days. So thank you here for being with me today. I will try to talk to you some more in a minute. But please, through you, if I could extend that to all of your colleagues here, I know they'll be on different shifts. But I hope this will give them the well-earned boost that they absolutely deserve. I will now take questions from the media. I've got a list here. I think, Chris, I've got you first. Thank you, Prime Minister. Chris Mason, BBC News. Prime Minister, this is a... Can you just a little bit louder, Chris? I'm so sorry. Prime Minister, this is a freeing up of trade conditions with America, compared with where we were. But is it better than, say, six months ago, given, for instance, some tariffs are still there? Well, Chris, the question you should be asking is, is it better than where we were yesterday? And I think you should come out when you've 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% the 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, proudly do that. And of course, it also includes on pharmaceuticals, some really important measures. Obviously, we don't have tariffs yet, 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. The SPS red line is a red line that's written into the agreement. And so I think if you put that package together, you can see that it's a significant step in the right direction for our country and our national interest, and for the very many thousands of jobs that will now be protected, saved and enhanced by the fact that we've done this deal. And I'm really proud we have. And I know people along the way were urging me to walk away, to descend in a different kind of relationship. We didn't. We did the hard yards, we stayed in the room. And I'm really pleased to say to the workforce here and through them to the country, how important I think this deal is. Thank you, Chris. Robert, I'm coming to you next. Prime Minister, all the polling shows that the British people think an improved trade deal with the European Union is more important than a US trade deal. The British people are right, aren't they? Well, Robert, you're already minutes after this deal with the US still pushing me back to, shouldn't we choose between the US and the EU? No is the answer to that question. I genuinely believe that we can have a good relationship and agreement with the US and a good relationship and a good agreement with the EU. That's why the red lines have been really important in the way that we've negotiated this. But look what we've shown this week that through patience, through pragmatism, through putting, not doing politics as performance, but doing politics as the serious art of negotiation. We got a deal 48 hours ago in India, which of course also deals with car manufacturing by the way, so there's discussion to be had there. We've got the deal now with the US. We go on on Monday week to the EU-UK summit. But I've always said that the strength of the UK is being able to deal both with the US and the EU on security and defence and on trade and the economy. And that's the basis on which we've moved forward. And I think the workforce here would say to you in very loud terms, thank goodness you didn't take the advice of others to walk away from the negotiations with the US, because it would be they that would pay the price if we had done that. And I wasn't prepared to let that happen. Thank you, Robert. Beth, Sky News. Thank you, Prime Minister. Beth Rigby, Sky News. Back in February, when you did a press conference with Donald Trump in the White House, he said, we could end up with a real trade deal where tariffs wouldn't be necessary. We'll see that those were Donald Trump's words. And you've come out and yes, you have a concession on cars, you have a flat tariff still of 10%. Are you disappointed with that? Is this just the start? And to those voters last week in the local elections, that gave you the worst ever vote share you've had in a set of elections as a Labour Party. What's your message to them? Thank you. Well, my message to them is that we absolutely get the message that they sent last Thursday. We will remain focused as ever on the national interest. And I have them in mind, I have the workforce here in mind, when we make the decisions that we make. I don't make them for my sake. I make them on behalf of working people across this country. And in relation to this deal, yes, we would like to go further in relation to tariffs. But I think it's really important that we've been able to get this deal over the line now because in that way, we've been able to protect and save and enhance jobs right here, right now. And that reduction from 27.5% down to 10% makes a huge difference to firms like JLR and the decisions they have to make about the future, decisions that I want them to make about the future. Steel and aluminium obviously been in the news hugely in recent weeks. To get that down to 0% as well is hugely important. Pharmaceuticals is one of the most important sectors in our economy. And therefore, there's nothing to get down at the moment because there isn't a tariff. But if there should be, to already have got into a position of significantly preferential outcomes, will I know be a welcome relief to them. So I measure this by the reactions of those that are most affected by the tariffs, which is the workforce here. It's those in pharmaceuticals, those that are working in steel and aluminium. But look, there's a huge ambition here. There's a lot in the deal about tech. We are two of the leading economies on tech. There's a huge amount we can do on tech as well. So we want to go further, want to go further in those areas and on tariffs, keeping our redlines absolutely in place on SPS, and on food standards and agricultural standards, because that matters so much to us here in Britain. Thank you, Beth. Paul. Paul McElroy, Channel 4 News. Afternoon, Prime Minister. Look, business needs certainty. President Trump is no stranger to changing his mind on a whim. What assurances can you give business, give the workers here, that despite what you've agreed today, we're not all going to wake up to a post tomorrow that effectively rips all that up? Well, we've been negotiating this text for a long time. I had discussions with Donald Trump along the way, including discussions last night. We're clearly in agreement. There is a written text. This is reduced to writing, that text will be available. So this is an agreement that is absolutely clear. We've worked well together, 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. Both teams have fought hard in tough negotiations, and we've arrived at an agreement that I went through with the President last night, and we've just agreed moments ago here at JLR. So clear agreement in terms, and these tariff reductions to come in, in very short order, make a material difference to the lives of very many people across the country. Thank you very much. I've got Noah. Noah. Noah from The Sun. Hi, Prime Minister. I was wondering if you could please spell out for us what your strategy is going to be to get those 10% tariffs down to 0%. I know you're talking a lot about today being job saved, not a job done. But a lot of people will be thinking 10% still isn't good enough. We're worse off than a year ago. How are you going to approach negotiations going forward? And how long will it take till we get to 0%? I will approach the negotiations in the same way I've approached the negotiations with India and with President Trump to get to today's deal. With India, I met Prime Minister Modi at the G20 in Brazil. We agreed that we would get our teams to work together at pace in a courteous, respectful, businesslike way. With President Trump, we've operated in the same way, not walking out the room, not slamming doors, but staying in the room negotiating. The same with the EU, respectfully negotiating in relation to the summit that we'll have a week on Monday. So we'll do it in exactly the same way. But please do not underestimate the significance of the tariff reductions today, because these are measured in thousands of good, well paid jobs across the country. And that really matters. That's at the heart of everything that I believe in. And I believe that serious, pragmatic, in the room negotiations, acting in the national interest are far better than performative politics, people slamming the door, floundering out, you know, being performative, but not actually delivering for working people. And I'll continue in the same vein. We've had two trade deals this week by acting in that way. And I think that shows that serious pragmatism defeats performative politics any day of the week. Thank you. Mikey, from the mirror. You mentioned tech a couple of times. JD Vance has on a number of occasions said that one of his red lines is concessions on our anti hate speech laws. How have you managed to talk him around on that? And very quickly, if I may, I think you'll admit that this wasn't what you were expecting to do today. Donald Trump has been struggling to land his arguments on tariffs. Have we been bounced into this by a president that needs help out of a hole? Well, look, I mean, in terms of free speech, I've been really clear throughout. We've had free speech in this country for a very, very long time. It's one of our foundational principles on which we're all very, very proud. And that will long, long be the case. There's nothing in this deal that impinges on that in any way whatsoever. In relation to the timing of this, no, not at all. Our teams have been hard at work for weeks on end. I've wanted to get a deal over the line. I make no, you know, I'm not ashamed of that. I wanted because I knew how important it was, particularly for JLR, that we got a deal, we got it over the line, and we got it over the line in a timely manner. The last thing I wanted to do was deliver a deal that didn't come in time for those that desperately need it. So no, I didn't know the exact day. I wouldn't have been having my phone call with President Trump halfway through the second half of the Arsenal PSG game had I planned it better. But that's the way it turned out. That's the discussion we were having late last night about how we proceeded with this deal. And I'm really pleased to be able to come here today. And actually, to be able to do it on VE Day is really significant because of course, the US was standing there as our ally 80 years ago today. So today is an opportunity to reflect on the fact that today we stand together as allies on security and defence. Of course, there are no two countries that are closer on security and defence. But now we add trade and the economy to those issues where we're the closest of allies. And I'm really pleased about that. And then Hugo. Thank you, Prime Minister. Hugo Jai from the iPaper. Just the other day, President Trump threatened to put tariffs on the film industry. Obviously, Britain has a huge film sector. Have you asked him to take that threat off the table? What did he say? And if he hasn't taken that off the table, how are you going to stop that becoming a reality? Well, obviously, there aren't any tariffs in place on film at the moment. And of course, we're discussing it with the President's team. We'll take the same approach as we've taken on other issues, whether it's tariffs imposed, which we've been able to reduce, or potential tariffs in areas like pharmaceuticals, or film, we'll take the same approach. Because for me, what matters is acting in the national interest, and making sure that everything that we do is good for working people in this country. And whether it comes to whether it's steel and aluminium, whether it's car building, whether it's pharmaceuticals, or film, we are brilliant at these things. And therefore, I will act in the national interest and have those discussions on film as we've done on other issues with the President. Thank you all very much, indeed. Thank you. I'll now talk to some of the workforce if I may. How are you all?