The blame game

The context to Brexit criticisms

SIMPLY PLAYING the political ‘blame game’ will not inspire public confidence in the ability of Ministers to preside over Britain’s exit from the European Union.

After Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons and a prominent Brexiteer, urged the media to be more patriotic, her colleague Liam Fox went further by claiming that “some elements of our media would rather see Britain fail than see Brexit succeed”.

The reason that Dr Fox, the International Trade Secretary, is facing such scrutiny is because the issue at stake is not the egos of self-centred politicians, but the UK’s future prosperity.

It is, right, therefore that those concerned face robust questioning – especially as the politicians who advocated Brexit, like Dr Fox and Mrs Leadsom, seem far less assured when it comes to implementing their principled rhetoric.

For Dr Fox to accuse the BBC and others of couching good economic news with disparaging terms like ‘despite Brexit’ is not only disingenuous for a seasoned politician who should be capable of holding his own in debate, but detracts from the important message that he wanted to get over – namely an increase in overseas companies investing in the UK.

And here is the irony. As Dr Fox was making his claim in the Commons yesterday, the House of Lords was being warned that Brexit will “undoubtedly” damage the UK’s ability to exert influence in foreign affairs. For the record, the proposition wasn’t being advocated by a journalist; it was being espoused by no less than a figure than William Hague, a former Foreign Secretary and onetime colleague of Liam Fox.