Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said that the government is to announce further measures to support businesses affected by US tariff hikes.He told GB News: “A trade war isn't in anyone's interests and whether or not we are directly involved, we will be indirectly impacted. And that's why the Prime Minister sought to do three things.“Firstly, is not only to make sure at the best end of the US tariffs already announced, but to make sure that we secure an economic partnership with the United States to further remove trade barriers. Secondly, to try and remove trade barriers with other countries, other trading partners, across Europe, around the world, so that Britain stands for free trade and open trade.“And thirdly, to make sure we're providing support for British industry, to support them against what are very challenging global headwinds now. We’ve heard about support for the car industry as well as some of the announcements made to support UK life sciences. There's more to come on that.”On a possible trade deal with the US, he said: “I don't think we've ever over-claimed in that way on a trade partnership with the United States, but we are working really closely with our partners in the United States.“Of course, America isn't our only trading partner. We've got the European Union, where we want to break down barriers to trade.“We've got the rest of the world where we want to make sure that the UK is engaged in what are some of the biggest emerging markets of the world, which are way beyond our continent.“There's a lot going on that front. But as I say, this is a challenging global backdrop, no doubt about that, and that's why the action and the leadership the Prime Minister's showing, not just abroad, but here at home, is really important for British jobs and British industry.”WATCH ABOVE.
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00:00Crossing now over to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who joins us now.
00:04Good to see you this morning, Mr. Streeting.
00:06Good morning.
00:06And I just get your reaction to the markets, because $10 trillion has been wiped off global
00:13stock markets since last Wednesday.
00:17We've just had some reaction from Beijing to that threat of additional 50% tariffs from
00:22President Donald Trump.
00:23They say they will not bow to blackmail, and they say if the U.S. insists on going its
00:28own way, China will fight to the end.
00:30What's your reaction to the global stock markets and this escalating rhetoric, this escalating
00:35trade war that we're experiencing and witnessing right now?
00:40Good morning.
00:40Well, a trade war isn't in anyone's interest, and whether or not we are directly involved,
00:46we will be indirectly impacted.
00:50And that's why the Prime Minister's thought to do three things.
00:54Firstly, it's not only to make sure we're at the best end of the U.S. tariffs already
00:59announced, but to make sure that we secure an economic partnership with the United States
01:04to further remove trade barriers.
01:06Secondly, to try and remove trade barriers with other countries, other trading partners
01:11across Europe, around the world, so that Britain stands for free trade and open trade.
01:17And thirdly, to make sure we're providing support for British industry to support them against
01:23what are very challenging global headwinds now.
01:26Heard that we support the car industry, as well as some of the announcements may support
01:30UK life sciences.
01:31There's more to come on that one.
01:33We were hearing about this oven-ready trade deal between the U.S. and Britain last week.
01:39That still hasn't materialised.
01:42Do we have a plan B?
01:44What are you going to be doing to supporting businesses in this country in the meantime?
01:50Well, I don't think we've ever over-claimed in that way on a trade partnership with the
01:56United States, but we are working really closely with our partners in the United States.
02:01Of course, America isn't our only trading partner.
02:04We've got the European Union, where we want to break down barriers to trade.
02:08We've got the rest of the world, where we want to make sure that the UK is engaged in
02:13what are some of the biggest emerging markets of the world, which are way beyond our continent.
02:21So, there's a lot going on on that front.
02:23But as I say, this is a challenging global backdrop, no doubt about that.
02:27And that's why the action and the leadership of the Prime Minister is showing, not just abroad,
02:32but here at home, is really important for British jobs and British industry.
02:35OK, Miss Street, I can see that you're in a GP surgery as we speak.
02:40That's because you're announcing 1,503 extra GPs have been hired.
02:45Where have these GPs come from and how are they being paid for?
02:50Well, bizarrely, when I came in, I inherited this odd and bizarre situation where we had
02:56patients struggling to get a GP at the same time as qualified GPs were struggling to find jobs.
03:01So, I said we'd put 1,000 more GPs onto the front line by the end of March.
03:06We've cut through the red tape of one of the initiatives to recruit staff to GP practices,
03:11cut through the red tape that stopped practices recruiting GPs, and we've put in place the
03:17funding necessary to make sure that we could deliver.
03:19And that funding is not just for this year, but for future years, thanks to the decisions
03:24taken by the Chancellor.
03:25So, I want to reassure GP News viewers on two fronts, really.
03:29Firstly, is that we're keeping our promises, and the NHS is on the road to recovery.
03:34But secondly, to reassure people that I'm not for a moment pretending it's job done, and
03:38the road ahead is still a long road to recovery.
03:41But I hope that with the announcement we're making today, people can see things are beginning
03:46to move in the right direction.
03:47And through the lack of complacency we're showing, I hope people are reassured that we know there's
03:55more to do, and we will deliver.
03:57Though, that you can't fix the front door of the NHS, you can't bring back the family
04:01doctor, which is what you're talking about, hoping to do, that's what you're announcing
04:05today.
04:06If you don't crack down on migration, if you look at the figures from the ONS, which I'm
04:11sure you're across, one in six new registrations in England are from overseas migrants.
04:16In some boroughs in London, over 40% of new registrations are from people who have arrived
04:22from abroad.
04:23And then you look at the ONS figures that say that the population is going to be up nearly
04:275 million by 2032.
04:29I mean, how do you plan to deal with this?
04:33Yeah, so obviously we talk a lot about illegal migration to our country, and some of the steps
04:39we've taken since the general election, like the big deportation flights, are important
04:45to tackle that problem.
04:46What we tend to talk less about, and I think we should talk more about, is our over-reliance
04:51on overseas recruitment to plug skills shortages in lots of parts of our economy, including
04:57the NHS and our social care services.
05:00And while I and many other people will be very grateful to people who come from overseas
05:05to work in our health and care services, who make a contribution to our country, I think
05:09we would all agree that net migration is far too high, and we need to do much more to recruit
05:16and retain homegrown talent in our country.
05:19And that is why I'll be taking steps with the Home Secretary to reduce our over-reliance
05:24on overseas recruitment.
05:25So what are you going to do to increase training and retain British doctors and British medical
05:32students?
05:33Because it's something like two-thirds of medics that qualified last year were from abroad.
05:38Yeah, and we've got this bizarre situation where graduates from UK medical schools are competing
05:48on an equal basis with overseas applicants for the same jobs.
05:53I think that is a crazy position for our country to be in, and as we speak, I am looking at the changes
06:00we need to make to put an end to that situation, so that students who are going through UK medical
06:06schools, that they're the people whose training we've invested in as a country, and they've invested
06:11in themselves, to make sure that they get those jobs that are available in our national health
06:16service, and then more broadly to make sure that we're, with the Education Secretary, delivering
06:22the skills and opportunities to recruit to a wide range of roles in our health and care
06:28services with homegrown talent to reduce our reliance on overseas workers, because we all
06:33agree that migration is too high. In order to reduce that over-reliance on overseas recruitment,
06:39we've got to invest in the skills and opportunities of our own people, and that's what this government's
06:43committed to doing.
06:44Can I ask you about this UK first? On the front page of many of the newspapers this morning,
06:48the first baby born after a womb transplant here in the UK. What's your reaction to that story?
06:56I mean, this is an amazing scientific breakthrough, and it will provide real hope to parents or
07:02aspiring parents, I should say, who may be given up on the idea they might ever be able to conceive
07:08and have their own child. Of course, there are other opportunities and options available,
07:12like fostering and adoption, which are wonderful. But this is a really amazing scientific breakthrough,
07:18and that's why this week what the Prime Minister's announced in terms of the Health Data Research
07:22Service will be really important for making sure that our NHS is at the forefront of the revolution in
07:28life sciences and technology. We want to see more of this innovation here in Britain, and we want to
07:34see it benefiting our national health service. So really exciting. And actually, against all the
07:39challenges in the NHS, this is one of the big opportunities for our country in terms of life
07:45sciences and medical technology, which can not only deliver better care and ground-breaking new
07:51treatments, it can also deliver great results in science. Mr. Streeter, I'm afraid we're out of time
07:54with you at the top of the hour, I'm afraid, but thank you for your time.