‘Fat and lazy’ Britain needs to change or face Brexit failure

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Liam Fox

INTERNATIONAL Trade Secretary Liam Fox has said that Britain has grown ‘fat and lazy’, making the nation incapable of securing lucrative post-Brexit trade deals.

The euro-sceptic politician, who will play a key role in negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU family, told a group of business leaders “This country is not the free-trading nation that it once was. We have become too lazy, and too fat on our successes in previous generations.”

“What is the point of us reshaping global trade, what is the point of us going out and looking for new markets for the United Kingdom, if we don’t have the exporters to fill those markets?”

He also called for a deconstruction of the protectionist mindset, with his remarks coming after a heavily-publicised tour of the UK’s Anglophile allies from America to Australia.

“We’ve got to change the culture in our country. People have got to stop thinking about exporting as an opportunity and start thinking about it as a duty – companies who could be contributing to our national prosperity but choose not to because it might be too difficult or too time-consuming or because they can’t play golf on a Friday afternoon,” he added in his address.

Downing Street declined to comment on the remarks, diplomatically saying that Theresa May’s priority will be to ensure that British business is afforded the best opportunities to succeed internationally.

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Comments


    • Brian Eagleson

      10 September 2016 • 11:21

      Theresa May should sack Liam Fox immediately. He is living in the past and does not understand present day business practices. He should be trumpeting worldwide that Britain is a great place to do business. That’s his job. So what does he do? He undermines all the efforts of British businesses to create jobs and increase exports with fatuous public remarks about laziness, being fat and just playing golf on Fridays! That may have been true when he was a lad, but it ain’t now! When I was young many British business leaders, bank managers etc. might have been described that way, but the new generation of young, thrusting entrepreneurs soon turned that into history. The business world is now leaner and more aggressive than ever before. If he doesn’t realise that he’s not fit for the job. As for just playing golf – some of the biggest business deals are still struck on the golf course!

      Fox’s referendum campaign promises about Britain remaining in the single market (i.e. free market) after Brexit are receding daily. His silence on that is deafening. Now, his downright lies only serve to make exporting and creation of jobs much harder. He’s not just shot himself in the foot, he’s shot down all of Britain’s export business leaders and all their hard working staff at the same time.

      Just waiting for Boris to make his next gaffe too. With “friends” like these in government, who needs enemies?

    • Bob Farrell

      10 September 2016 • 18:40

      If his intelligence matched his ambition he would be dangerous. Here is a man who had to stand down once for his indiscretions, should be the sack this time. He could then possibly get a job that involved real hard work, doubt it though.

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