plans

SUPERMARKETS have told The Sun they have no plans to sell American beef, upping the stakes for politicians thrashing out the details of a UK-US trade deal.

Donald Trump and Keir Starmer announced the outline of an agreement last week that would allow up to 13,000 tons of US beef to be imported here tariff-free.

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That is the equivalent of one medium steak per Brit per year.

Currently the UK imports just £24million worth of beef a year, but Trump’s team have called the deal a $5billion opportunity.

However, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and The Co-op all said they have no plan to switch from UK and Irish farmers.

And the Government has said that imports of hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken will remain illegal.

Tesco boss Ken Murphy said this week that he had no plan to sell US beef.

He said: “We source 100 per cent Irish and British and for the foreseeable future that policy will be the same.”

Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons also said they don’t intend to change supply or animal welfare and food standards.

Budget pair Lidl and Aldi are also not budging on beef.

Aldi chief exec Giles Hurley said: “British farming is known for its high welfare, food safety and environmental standards — and we know how important that is to our customers.”

Iceland boss Richard Walker said there was no appetite for US beef from customers or supermarket suppliers.

He said: “Consensus is that even at a ten per cent tariff it’s a very price prohibitive option.”

The Co-op’s Matt Hood said: “We’re a long-term supporter of British farming, and the first national UK grocer to switch to 100 per cent British fresh and frozen own brand protein.”

The National Farmers Union said: “It’s brilliant to see supermarkets championing British beef. Consumers value its high standards in animal welfare.”

A government spokesman said: “This is a great deal as we have opened access to a huge American market, without weakening UK food standards on imports.”

Butty giant spreading

GREENCORE, the UK’s biggest sandwiches maker, announced it has agreed a £1.2billion takeover of rival Bakkavor to create a food-to-go giant.

It will see £4billion of revenues generated from selling pizzas, soups, salads and sushi to almost all of Britain’s supermarkets.

But workers fear job cuts after the firms said they would save at least £80million in costs a year after the deal.

GMB union national officer Eamon O’Hearn said: “The likelihood of site closures and drop in headcount confirms our worst fears — that hard-working production staff will be facing job losses.”

ITV’s not love sick with US

LOVE Island broadcaster ITV yesterday shrugged off any US tariff concerns as bosses highlighted its Studios arm made TV shows, not films.

President Trump has spooked Britain’s creative industry by slapping 100 per cent tariffs on movies “produced in foreign lands”.

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ITV yesterday said it did not “anticipate any direct impact”.

It came as the company toasted a return to growth for the Studios business, with ­revenue up one per cent at £386million after years of ­disruption from the Hollywood writers’ strike.

Speculation about a takeover of ITV or the Studios business continues to run rife, but insiders downplayed rumours.

The broadcaster, fresh from winning a Bafta for Mr Bates vs The Post Office, expects advertising revenue to be lower than last year, when companies spent big on ads during the Euros footie tournament.

Covid fraud axe

MINISTERS have scrapped a Covid fraud recovery unit and transferred investigations to the Insolvency Service — after realising even more taxpayer cash was being wasted.

Around £47billion was paid to firms as bounceback loans but there had been more than 100,000 cases of fraud and error.

The National Investigation Service received £38.5million in state funding but has secured just 14 convictions.

Trade minister Gareth Thomas said transferring the probes would “remove unnecessary waste and inefficiency”.

B&M goes Dutch

DISCOUNT chain B&M has hired a Dutch former Tesco executive in the latest sign of FTSE firms looking abroad for leadership.

Tjeerd Jegen, who recently led Europe’s biggest ebike maker Accell Group, has also worked at German clothing chain Takko Fashion and Dutch retailer Hema.

He led Tesco’s Malaysian business in 2010 and was its chief operating officer in Thailand before that.

B&M pushed out ex-boss Alex Russo after two profit warnings in as many months.

WASHINGTON — The head of the U.S. Space Force is moving ahead with plans to pull talent from Air National Guard units to help build up the still new-military service — but several governors remain opposed and argue it tramples on their rights to retain control over their state units.

Overall, the plan would affect only 578 service members across six states and the Air National Guard headquarters and augment the Space Force without creating a separate Space Force National Guard — something the service has said would not be efficient because it would be so small.

“We are actively pursuing where do we want our part-time workforce? What type of work do they do?” the head of Space Force, Gen. Chance Saltzman, said Thursday at a Politico conference.

The transferred service members would be a part-time force like they are now, just serving under the Space Force instead of their state units.

But space missions are some of the most lucrative across the military and private sectors, and the states that lose space mission service member billets are potentially losing highly valuable part-time workforce members if they have to move away to transfer to the Space Force.

Last month, the National Governors Assn. said the transfers violate their right to retain control over their state units.

“We urge that any transfers cease immediately and that there be direct and open engagement with governors,” the association said in April. The group was not immediately available to comment on Space Force’s plan.

“There’s a lot of concern in the National Guard about these individuals who are highly skilled that want to be in the Guard being transferred out,” Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin said at an Air Force manpower hearing this week.

Congress directed the transfers in its 2025 defense bill. But the contention between the states and the Space Force has meant the service hasn’t so far been able to approach individual members about transferring in.

According to the legislation, each National Guard will get the option to either stay with their units — and get retrained in another specialty — or join the Space Force. Those who do transfer would be allowed to remain in their home state to perform their mission for at least the next 10 years, according to the 2025 legislation.

The affected personnel include 33 from Alaska, 126 from California, 119 from Colorado, 75 from Florida, 130 from Hawaii, 69 from Ohio and 26 from Air National Guard headquarters

Copp writes for the Associated Press.

PM Starmer’s shift to the right on immigration risks alienating Labour’s large base of left-of-centre supporters.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promises to “finally take back control” of the United Kingdom’s borders as his Labour government unveils policies designed to reduce legal immigration and fend off rising support for the hard right.

“Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control,” he told reporters at a Downing Street news conference on Monday.

Starmer announced he was ending an “experiment in open borders” that saw net migration rise to nearly one million people under the previous Conservative government, which lost last year’s general election.

Labour has been traditionally more sympathetic to immigration than the Conservative Party. Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who voted for the UK to remain part of the European Union, is under renewed pressure to tackle the issue after the anti-immigration Reform UK party’s gains in recent local elections.

However, Starmer’s shift to the right on immigration risks alienating Labour’s large base of left-of-centre supporters and losing their votes to the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.

The government’s Immigration White Paper policy document includes plans to cut overseas care workers and increase from five to 10 years the length of time people will have to live in the UK before qualifying for settlement and citizenship.

English-language rules would also be strengthened with all adult dependants required to demonstrate a basic understanding while the length of time students may stay in the UK after completing their studies would be reduced.

The white paper also proposes new powers to deport foreigners who commit offences in the country. Currently, the government is only informed of foreign nationals who receive prison sentences while under the new arrangements all foreign nationals convicted of offences would be flagged for the government.

The document also proposes new visa controls requiring foreign skilled workers to have a university degree to secure a job in the UK.

The prime minister acknowledged that migrants “make a massive contribution” to Britain but alleged the country risks becoming an “island of strangers” without more controls. He added that he wants net migration to fall “significantly” by the next election, likely in 2029, but refused to say by how much.

Labour promised in its general election manifesto last year to significantly reduce net migration, which stood at 728,000 in the 12 months to June. It had peaked at 906,000 in 2023 after averaging 200,000 a year for most of the 2010s.

Arch-eurosceptic Nigel Farage’s Reform party won more than 670 local council seats this month as well as its first two mayoral posts. It is also riding high in national polls while Labour is struggling after its 2024 landslide general election victory.