MPs warn Britain is making up China policy as it goes along
A Commons committee says Britain’s failure to set a coherent China strategy since 2024 has “combined the worst of both worlds”, leaving businesses without opportunities and security risks unaddressed. Liam Byrne, its Labour chairman, warns the UK risks being “cut off” from big European manufacturing contracts as the EU turns protectionist.
The business and trade committee’s report links the two questions now running through British foreign economic policy. Byrne says “Europe is changing fast” and is “proposing new trade protections as it gets bolder with Beijing and warier of Washington”. He argues ministers “should be prepared to consider dynamic alignment” with the EU, including on tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, as the price of a place in Made in Europe. That puts the committee’s weight behind the same scheme ministers are trying to buy into with student fees. Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing in January was the first by a prime minister since 2018.