British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has set alarm bells ringing over a putative trade with the Trump administration that focuses narrowly on AI and tech.
Healthy secretary Wes Streeting was forced to rush out a denial that the NHS would be part of any trade deal – while playing up the research appeal of the UK’s “large and diverse patient population”.
In a White House meeting, Donald Trump raised the possibility that the UK could avoid feared tariffs and that a long-wished for post Brexit trade deal could be on the cards.
“I think we could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn't be necessary. We'll see," Trump said.
Starmer followed up with talk of a "new economic deal with advanced technology at its core". He said that when it came to AI, "Instead of over-regulating these new technologies, we're seizing the opportunities they offer."
"Artificial intelligence could cure cancer. That could be a moon shot for our age, and that's how we'll keep delivering for our people," he said.
Earlier attempts at a trade deal stalled between a post Brexit UK and the US over taxes on tech companies and US agricultural exports.
The Trump administration has railed against UK and European efforts to regulate big tech. Vice president JD Vance has framed efforts to clamp down on misinformation or hate content as censorship.
Coincidentally, Trump has gained major support in the shape of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and most notably of all, Elon Musk.
The Starmer government has already walked back on its predecessors’ focus on AI safety, adopting a far more US-friendly approach.
In the UK, there has been pushback from a – for once – united media industry at government plans to open up the UK’s creative sector for harvesting by LLMs. But voters, and activists, are likely to be even more alarmed at the prospect of US tech and pharma getting its teeth into the NHS.
Health secretary Wes Streeting told Radio 4 that the NHS was “not on the table” in any deal with the US. But by referring to research and clinical he seemed to be suggesting the “patient population” and its data could be. “Access to our patients and to our National Health Service and its footprint I think is valuable,” he said.
Starmer underlined his revamped approach to tech with a flying visit to a local tech company. Palantir.
