The Digital Services Tax, a two percent levy on the revenue of tech companies, is also on the table. All three policies have attracted fierce opposition by the U.S. tech industry.
When asked about the ongoing negotiations during a public hearing on Tuesday afternoon by Chi Onwurah, chair of the House of Commons’ Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Starmer said: “There are questions about the appropriate way to tax digital services. There are questions about how technology impacts with free speech.”
But he added: “I have been very clear, in my view, that we need to have an arrangement for digital tax of some sort. And equally, we need to be pioneers of free speech, which we have been for very many years in this country.
“But at the same time, we rightly protect under the Online Safety Act further provisions of which are coming into force pretty quickly, and when it comes to dealing with pedophiles and protecting children, I take a pretty strong line that we take the necessary measures in order to do so.”
Starmer was less firm on misinformation. When asked by Onwurah about the role of social media stoking riots last summer after murders in Southport, Starmer said there was a need to be “proportionate.”
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran also asked Starmer during the Liaison Committee session if parts of the NHS, including U.S. market access to NHS data, were on the table in the talks. He avoided answering directly saying: “I’ve been very protective of the approach we take to the NHS in any dealings with any other country, because it is our greatest asset and we’re not trading it away.”
