Brexit ‘a great opportunity – not a time bomb’ says Fox
LIAM FOX has called for the “obsession with criticising Brexit” to end in 2018, as he insisted the UK’S withdrawal from the European Union “is not a time bomb to be defused”.
The International Trade Secretary said it represented a “great opportunity to be embraced” as he attacked critics who would “rather see Britain fail than see Brexit succeed”.
Mr Fox’s intervention came as he travelled to China to try to improve the UK’S trade and investment ties with Beijing. Writing on the Conservative Home website, he said that he found “returning from a positive and optimistic international visit only to encounter a wave of negativism at home” most frustrating.
He said that interest abroad in investing in post-brexit Britain was in “stark contrast to the self-defeating pessimism that is too often on show” in the UK from some politicians, pundits and media outlets.
“Attitudes need to change as we go into 2018; Brexit is not a time bomb to be defused, but a great opportunity to be embraced,” he said.
“Our international competitors are already out there trying to carve out their slice of the world’s growing markets. We need to get beyond the obsession with criticising Brexit, lift our horizons, and be out there, too.”
Mr Fox said that establishing an independent trade policy for the UK will allow Britain to pursue agreements with nations that the EU does not currently have free trade deals with.
The Department for International Trade said: “[Mr Fox] is visiting China, our fifth largest trade partner, to build independent trading relationships with the rest of the world. We have instigated 14 trade working groups across more than 20 countries to make sure we hit the ground running.”