UK politics live: Labour accuse Tories of ‘made-up tax row’ after striking £25bn India trade deal

The opening up of international trade with one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economies comes as the prime minister attempts to deal with Donald Trump’s latest moves in the battle over tariffs on imports to the US.

Read the full story from The Independent’s politics team here:

The UK is ready to “support” both India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions following an exchange of fire between the two nations, a minister has said.

Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the situation in Kashmir was “hugely worrying”.

He told the BBC’s Today programme: “Our message would be that we are a friend, a partner to both countries. We stand ready to support both countries.

“Both have a huge interest in regional stability, in dialogue, in de-escalation and anything we can do to support that, we are here and willing to do.”

Criticism of national insurance provisions in the UK-India trade deal is a result of the Conservatives being “unable to accept” that the government has “done what they couldn’t do”, the trade secretary has said.

Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News: “This is not a tangible issue. This is the Conservatives – and Reform – unable to accept that this Labour Government has done what they couldn’t do and get this deal across the line.

“This is presenting a false reason why they couldn’t (do it).”

Political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

It is “absolutely false” to say the trade deal with India is undercutting British workers, the business secretary has insisted, arguing that the criticism is a result of the Conservatives being “unable to accept” that the government has “done what they couldn’t do”.

“To present this as something undercutting British workers or unique to India is absolutely false”, Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News said. “This is just what we have in place with a whole range of key trading partners.”

He argued the system is fair, because it avoids foreign workers from being “taxed twice” – by the UK and their home nation.

“I don’t accept anyone is being undercut by this. I don’t accept what we have with all these 50 other countries undercuts British workers. It means the foreign workers pay into their system, and UK workers abroad pay into our system. They’re not taxed twice. I think that’s fair, but it doesn’t mean that anyone is being undercut”, he said.

Dismissing the criticism, Mr Reynolds added: “This is not a tangible issue. This is the Conservatives – and Reform – unable to accept that this Labour government has done what they couldn’t do and get this deal across the line. This is presenting a false reason why they couldn’t (do it).”

Labour has accused Tory leader Kemi Badenoch of confecting a “made-up row” over the newly-struck India trade deal to “distract from her failure” to secure a similar agreement.

Hailed as a “landmark” agreement by Sir Keir Starmer, the government announced on Monday that it had reached a deal to boost bilateral trade with India by £25bn – in what marks Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade agreement.

While Boris Johnson famously promised to make such an agreement by Diwali in October 2022, an India trade deal has remained elusive for UK successive prime ministers. The new deal will immediately cut tariffs on whisky, gin, cars and cosmetics, while reducing barriers to imports of Indian textiles, food and jewellery.

However, Ms Badenoch claimed she had “refused to sign this deal” while trade secretary, in part due to a condition – similar to those already in place with more than a dozen other countries – that some Indian and British workers will avoid paying national insurance for the first three years in their destination country.

A Labour spokesperson accused Ms Badenoch of “desperately seeking to distract from her failure with a made-up row about a standard tax agreement that will benefit British workers abroad”.