Sir Keir Starmer has promised to “help shelter British business from the storm” caused by US tariffs, as he prepares to push for state intervention to support the industries hardest hit by the economic fallout.

Britain is ready to strike back against the US unless a trade deal scrapping Donald Trump’s tariffs on UK goods is agreed within weeks. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed to remain “cool and calm” after the US president announced fees of 10% would be levied on imports from the UK and insisted: “A trade war is bad for working people and bad for our businesses.

Sir Keir Starmer is seeking to convince Donald Trump to visit Scotland this summer to meet the King during a scramble to secure a trade agreement in the wake of US tariffs.