International trade secretary Liam Fox, whose counterparts in the Leave campaign frequently accused Remain campaigners of “talking Britain down”, has been talking Britain down.
Addressing business leaders at a recent Conservative event in parliament, Fox has argued that they are all are too “fat and lazy” to succeed outside the EU, and would rather “play golf on a Friday afternoon” than rescue his political career.
The recently appointed minister is a staunch Eurosceptic who campaigned for Brexit, but now concedes that UK businesses are simply not capable of thriving in the hostile trading environment that he campaigned passionately to place them within.
“What the country needs is a vibrant, ambitious business sector that sees exporting not as an opportunity but as a duty,” insisted Fox, before clarifying, “to keep me in my job I mean.”
Following a lacklustre performance by Brexit minister David Davis in parliament on Monday, Fox’s remarks are likely to fuel concerns among Leave voters that Brexit will fail to materialise, condemning the UK to further decades of comfortable prosperity within the EU.
Master Heywood 