International Trade Secretary Liam FoxReuters/Pierre Albouy
- The Trade Secretary has accused British businesses of not being enthusiastic enough about global trade.
- Liam Fox said Britain must “get more of our companies to think about exporting overseas.”
- It’s the Brexiteer’s latest attack on British business after he described it as “too fat and too lazy” in September 2016.
LONDON — Liam Fox has accused British businesses of undermining his efforts to make post-Brexit Britain a great trading nation by not wanting to export their goods around the world.
The International Trade Secretary told The House Magazine: “I can agree as many trade agreements as I like, but if British business doesn’t want to export, then that doesn’t do us any good.”
Fox’s comments are the latest of his attacks on British business. In September last year, he claimed that Britain had become “too fat and too lazy” and said business bosses would rather spend their time playing golf.
“From Britain’s point of view, our main advantage doesn’t lie in getting more trade deals, it lies in getting more trade,” the Brexiteer told House Magazine.
“So, we need to do an awful lot better with the markets that we already have access to globally, our trading performance still needs to improve, notwithstanding a more than 13% increase in trade in the last year.
“We’re still way behind where our economy needs to be. So, we need to think about how we can make our economy export ready, and more investment ready as well, and how we get more of our companies to think about exporting overseas.”
He added: “I can agree as many trade agreements as I like, but if British business doesn’t want to export, then that doesn’t do us any good.”
Fox and his department are tasked with creating new trade links between Britain and countries around the world in preparation for life outside of the European Union and the single market.
The Conservative minister told activists at the party’s Manchester conference in October that he’d sign off 40 free trade deals within seconds of Britain officially leaving the EU in March, 2019.
“I hear people saying ‘oh we won’t have any [free trade agreements] before we leave’. Well, believe me, we’ll have up to 40 ready for one second after midnight in March 2019,” Fox claimed.
“All these faint hearts saying we cannot do it — it’s absolute rubbish.”
Fox also told House Magazine that the press has been creating false stories about Brexit negotiations.
“The media are not party to our internal discussions. And so, a lot of stuff gets made up. But you know, that’s what we get,” he said.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
