Sir Keir Starmer has been told by Labour MPs to act like Hugh Grant in Love Actually and ‘get off his knees’ in his dealings with Donald Trump over tariffs.

It comes as investors brace for more turmoil when the markets open tomorrow with fears growing that the world economy is heading for a recession.

A whopping £4.4 trillion was wiped off stock markets last week after President Trump unleashed sweeping tariffs – including 10 per cent for all UK exports to the US.

With many Labour MPs fearing Sir Keir will try to appease Mr Trump by ditching or reducing a UK tax on American tech giants as part of a new tariff-removing trade deal, one urged him to act like actor Grant’s fictional British prime minister in the Christmas classic when he tells a US president: ‘We may be a small country, but we’re a great one too.’

Sir Keir spoke to French president Emmanuel Macron by phone yesterday, with the two leaders agreeing that ‘nothing should be off the table’ in negotiations with Washington.

But one Labour MP told The Mail on Sunday last night: ‘Starmer should channel his inner Hugh Grant and tell Trump where to get off.

‘Canada is already doing that, so are France and Germany. We’re just about the only ones bending the knee before Trump.

‘My voters think it’s humiliating and frankly, unpatriotic. After all, we are a great country with a proud history and we shouldn’t be on our knees to a bloke like Trump.’

In Love Actually, Grant’s PM turns on an arrogant US president during a press conference to say the so-called special relationship has become ‘a bad relationship’

Sir Keir Starmer has been told by Labour MPs to act like Hugh Grant in Love Actually and ‘get off his knees’ in his dealings with Donald Trump over tariffs

In Love Actually, Grant’s PM turns on an arrogant US president during a press conference to say the so-called special relationship has become ‘a bad relationship’.

He also says: ‘A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend.’

Labour backbenchers expect Sir Keir to try to get the new tariffs removed by offering to abolish or reduce a levy on online revenues made here by US tech giants including Facebook and Amazon.

MP Clive Lewis has criticised the idea against the backdrop of the Government’s controversial plans for deep cuts to welfare payments – saying this was ‘not the way’ to hug America close.

He said: ‘If you are going to give tax cuts to some of the wealthiest corporations on the planet just as you have taken billions from welfare – how do you think that is going to look to the public?’

He added: ‘It’s going to look absolutely horrific.’

And last night, a Labour colleague said privately: ‘If we surrender to Trump like this, then we would have a Labour Government taking money off poor people here but giving money to Trump’s billionaire mates. It’s absolutely shocking.’

However, government loyalists argue scrapping or reducing the digital levy, introduced in 2020 and which raises about £800million a year, could be worth it to remove tariffs on UK exports.

One Labour MP told The Mail on Sunday last night: ‘Starmer should channel his inner Hugh Grant and tell Trump where to get off’

Analysts expect a dramatic reaction when the markets open in the early hours of tomorrow in Asia followed by the opening bell in London at 8am.

There was little to calm investors nerves over the weekend after China retaliated with tariffs of 34 per cent on all US imports on Friday, taking the world a step closer to a global trade war.

Market analyst Neil Wilson said: ‘This is the biggest change in trade policy for 100 years and there’s no playbook. We are a long way off the bottom still.

‘China reacted on Friday but we have to see what other countries and blocs do next week, the big one being the European Union.’

JP Morgan bank puts the chances of a global recession at 60 per cent and has torn up its growth forecasts for the US – revising them down sharply by 1.6 percentage points and predicting much higher unemployment.

The bank’s chief US economist Michael Feroli said: ‘We now expect GDP to contract under the weight of the tariffs. For the full year, we now look for real growth of minus 0.3 per cent, down from 1.3 per cent.’

In the UK, economists are predicting the trade levies will knock as much as 0.6 per cent off UK GDP, leaving Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ already precarious finances in a perilous state. But the immediate concern in the UK is the banks amid fears they could stop lending should the sell-off continue apace.

The Bank of England was understood to be monitoring the situation closely this weekend, in particular the UK’s leading lenders and insurance firms.

President Donald Trump reads a newspaper with the headline ‘World War Fee,’ and ‘China: Yeah?’ as he arrives at Trump National Golf Club on Saturday

Sir Keir spoke to French president Emmanuel Macron by phone yesterday, with the two leaders agreeing that ‘nothing should be off the table’ in negotiations with Washington (pictured last week)

London’s five biggest banks fell steeply on Thursday and Friday with HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Natwest and Lloyds all being sold off.

Banks have capital buffers to protect against sharp shocks but tumbling valuations have left them vulnerable.

This paper can reveal that a key threshold measuring whether British banks can cope with a meltdown in global trade was triggered when on Friday a fear gauge known as the Vix soared. It briefly hit 45 – the point at which the Bank of England’s stress tests kick in. The Vix represents in real time traders’ expectations of how volatile they think the US stock market will be over the next 30 days.

The other pressing concern is for pensions, with British investors in the stock market witnessing a sharp dip in their finances.

‘These pension pots won’t bounce back any time soon. Delay retirement,’ Mr Wilson added.

Jason Hollands, managing director at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, added: ‘Above all, whether investments are held in pensions, Isas or elsewhere the key is not to panic.’

So far the hardest hit companies have been those with complex supply chains including Rolls-Royce which lost 11 per cent on Friday.

Oil and commodity giants have also been hit hard amid fears that a recession would lead to reduced demand for energy and natural resources.

A whopping £4.4 trillion was wiped off stock markets last week after President Trump unleashed sweeping tariffs – including 10 per cent for all UK exports to the US 

JP Morgan bank puts the chances of a global recession at 60 per cent and has torn up its growth forecasts for the US

Overall the FTSE 100 index of blue chip companies fell 4.9 per cent on Friday after plunging 1.5 per cent on Thursday. Tariffs of 10 per cent for nearly all countries took effect after midnight yesterday. The levies will then rise further to as high as 50 per cent for certain nations from April 9.

Top business figures – including advertising mogul Sir Martin Sorrell and former Rolls-Royce boss Warren East – said companies are in wait-and-see mode.

Ministers are set to throw a lifeline to the tariff hit car makers next week by easing rules on the transition to electric vehicles.

The controversial ‘zero-emission vehicles mandate’, which levies heavy fines on carmakers who fail to sell enough electric vehicles will be watered down.

Although the 2030 deadline for shifting to electric vehicles will stay in place, ministers are expected to soften fines.

Sir Keir is planning a major speech on the economy tomorrow aimed at reassuring business, investors and the public the Government is still ‘going for growth’.

He is also expected to unveil further streamlining of the planning system and sign off at least one major infrastructure project.

Two visits to King is ‘key to trade deal’

Donald Trump is being lined up for two meetings with King Charles as Britain’s diplomatic machine goes into overdrive to limit the damage caused by the US President’s tariff revolution.

Whitehall sources say the original plan was to have Mr Trump on a full state visit in October but that is now ‘slipping towards 2026’ because of unspecified ‘difficulties’.

One source said Charles was ‘reluctant to move at speed’ over the full state visit given Mr Trump’s aggressive behaviour towards Canada, a key member of his Commonwealth. Royal sources did not confirm this, other than to say: ‘The King’s views on Canada are well known.’

They suggest the main reason for the delay is it’s ‘hard to move the diaries of the King and the US President into perfect alignment’.

In addition, another country is understood to be ‘ahead of America in the queue’ for a state visit so diplomats are working towards a light-touch, non-state visit by Mr Trump later this year. It is likely to involve a meeting with the King and a round of golf at Mr Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland.

Sir Keir used his trip to the White House in February to present Mr Trump with the invitation from King Charles for a second state visit

Mr Trump said he accepted and that it would be an ‘honour’ to visit such a ‘fantastic’ country, adding Charles was a ‘beautiful man, a wonderful man’

The visit is likely to involve a meeting with the King and a round of golf at Mr Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland (pictured in 2023)

Some believe the royal itinerary could prove key in discussions about a future trade deal.

Sir Keir used his trip to the White House in February to present Mr Trump with the invitation from King Charles for a second state visit.

Mr Trump said he accepted and that it would be an ‘honour’ to visit such a ‘fantastic’ country, adding Charles was a ‘beautiful man, a wonderful man’. The Foreign Office believes Mr Trump is largely unavailable in July, so June or late August onwards are being discussed.

Charles will be at Balmoral from August 11 until mid-September, making it more likely for Mr Trump to visit then as that King’s diary is always busy during June.

Traditionally second-term US presidents are not offered a state visit and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle.