By Andrew J Quinn
Copyright scotsman
A Scottish firm is set to benefit from a US-UK tech deal unveiled to coincide with President Donald Trump’s historic second state visit. DataVita is partnering with American Artificial Intelligence (AI) cloud company CoreWeave to build one of Europe’s largest data centres. It is part of a “tech prosperity deal” which was announced as Mr Trump arrived in the UK on Tuesday night. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “This tech prosperity deal marks a generational step change in our relationship with the US, shaping the futures of millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic, and delivering growth, security and opportunity up and down the country.” CoreWeave is investing £1.5 billion in AI data centre capacity and operations in the UK – including the deal with DataVita, which has data centres in Glasgow and Lanarkshire. The tech deal will see the UK and US co-operate in areas including AI, quantum computing and nuclear power. It comes alongside £31 billion of investment in Britain from America’s top technology companies, including 30 billion dollars (£22 billion) from Microsoft. The build-up to Mr Trump’s second state visit has already seen London and Washington announce a deal on co-operating on building new nuclear power stations, and a £5 billion investment by Google in Britain’s AI sector. It also follows the agreement of an economic deal in May this year that covered a reduction in some tariffs imposed by Mr Trump in April, although plans to cut US tariffs on British steel have yet to be implemented. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the US-UK tech deal was “a vote of confidence in Britain’s booming AI sector” that would “deliver good jobs, life-saving treatments and faster medical breakthroughs”. As he set off from the US for the state visit, Mr Trump hailed the “great honour” of being hosted by his “friend” the King at “the ultimate” Windsor Castle, and hinted at possible tariff relief for UK steel. The US president said he is “into helping” Britain on fine-tuning the UK-US trade deal, as the Government seeks to eliminate tariffs on British steel imports to the US. It was believed Mr Trump would stay overnight at the US ambassador’s residence in London before travelling to Windsor Castle on Wednesday, where he will be treated to a ceremonial welcome and a lavish state banquet. Asked what he hoped to achieve during the visit, Mr Trump told reporters: “My relationship is very good with the UK, and Charles, as you know, who’s now King, is my friend. “It’s the first time this has ever happened where somebody was honoured twice. So, it’s a great honour. “And this one’s at Windsor. They’ve never used Windsor Castle for this before. They use Buckingham Palace. “And I don’t want to say one’s better than the other, but they say Windsor Castle is the ultimate, right? So it’s going to be nice.” He continued: “Primarily it’s to be with Prince Charles and Camilla. They’re friends of mine for a long time, long before he was King, and it’s an honour to have this King. “And, you know, I think he represents the country so well. He’s such an elegant gentleman and he represents the country so well.” Mr Trump added that he will “talk to” ministers seeking a relief from steel levies. The UK and US signed a trade deal in June that reduced tariffs on car and aerospace imports to the US, but failed to agree on terms for British steel, leaving tariffs on it at 25 per cent. Mr Trump said: “I’m there also on trade. They want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit. “We’ve made a deal, and it’s a great deal, and I’m into helping them. “Our country is doing very well. We’ve never done this well. We’re having trillions of dollars come in because of the tariffs. “They’d like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we’ll talk to them.” It comes as First Minister John Swinney claimed there is a “very real risk” the turmoil within the Labour party could jeopardise his efforts to remove US whisky tariffs. Last week the First Minister travelled to Washington DC and met Mr Trump in the Oval Office to make the case for reducing or removing US import tariffs on Scotch whisky. Tariffs of 10 per cent are costing the industry £4 million a week. But Mr Swinney said the scandals embroiling the UK government, including the sacking of its US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson over his links to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, could negatively affect his efforts. When asked if the scandals could jeopardise his work to remove US tariffs, Mr Swinney said: “There is a very real risk, to be honest. “The UK government is completely distracted and has been distracted for weeks by its own internal failures, mistakes and errors. “The people of Scotland who voted for them voted for better outcomes for the people of Scotland and what they’re delivering is chaos, which is distracting them from improving people’s lives. Whether it’s on whisky, I wish it wasn’t as distracted.” The trip is Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK – an unprecedented gesture for a US president – with his last one six years ago in 2019 seeing thousands of people turn out on the streets in London in opposition and a 20 foot Trump baby blimp take to the skies. He and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, will be welcomed by the King and Queen, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales. There will be a state banquet at Windsor castle on Wednesday night, where Mr Trump and the King will give speeches. He will also meet Sir Keir. The pair will have a bilateral meeting at Chequers – the Prime Minister’s country residence – followed by a press conference on Thursday. The Prince and Princess of Wales will meanwhile play a key role in entertaining the president and the first lady. William and Kate will meet the American couple in the grounds of the Windsor estate on Wednesday and escort them a short distance to see the King and Queen for an open air greeting nearby. The proceedings are aimed at extending a personal, family-centred welcome to the Trumps ahead of the official ceremony in the castle quadrangle after a carriage ride through private Home Park . The princess will also, in a rare move, carry out a joint engagement with Mrs Trump on Thursday in Frogmore Gardens where they will meet Chief Scout Dwayne Fields and members of the Scouts’ Squirrels programme as they learn about nature to achieve their Go Wild badge. It has not yet been confirmed whether Kate, who announced at the start of the year that she was in remission from cancer, will attend the state banquet on Wednesday evening. But it is likely she will be present at the opulent dinner during the diplomatically high-stakes visit, having done so for French President Emmanuel Macron in July.
