Keir Starmer leaves door open to US tech deal - but won't 'shrug shoulders' on online safety

Keir Starmer said he won’t shrug his shoulders on online safety - but left the door open to tech being a part of trade negotiations with the US.

The Prime Minister and officials are locked in talks with and his team after the US President slapped 10% tariffs on all British imports into America as part of his "Liberation Day" blitz.

Rumours have been swirling that the UK is looking at cutting the Digital Service Tax in an effort to secure a deal to lessen the hit from the tariffs - which could amount to a tax cut for the ’s richest tech billionaires.

It has also emerged that the draft UK-US trade agreement reportedly contains commitments by No10 to review its online safety laws and digital competition regulations. It has triggered a wave of anxiety among online safety campaigners who fear children could be at risk.

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Speaking at ’s local election launch in Chesterfield, the PM said he would act in Britain’s “national interest” when asked if he could confirm whether carving-out tech concessions was on the table.

But he said tackling online safety issues was also in the “national interest” and referenced his recent backing of ’s Adolescence, which explores the impact of harmful material online on teens.

Responding to a question from The on the issue, Mr Starmer said: “We will act in the national interest, but when it comes to online safety, I've recently, even in the last few days, made it clear how important I think online safety is.

“We had a roundtable with the writer and co-producer of Adolescence on Monday.

"It was very powerful session, which reinforced yet again, the risks and threats of social media, particularly in that case, with young boys, young children, young people.

"And so, you know, there are issues of the Online Safety Act that are coming into force pretty quickly. They're very important, and we need to look at whether there are other measures that we need to take in relation to online safety.”

He added: “But we'll act, of course, we have to act in the national interest, but it's also in the national interest to make sure our young people are safe when they're online.

“And I think one of the reasons Adolescence was so compelling I think was that any parent or anyone with a relationship with a child, particularly a teenage child, would have felt very strongly that it exposed, quite profoundly, the risks and challenges and I don't think we can shrug our shoulders, and walk past that and we won't.“

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