I realise that Brexit-related posts are mounting up on this
blog, but the Leavers provide such good ammunition to undermine their own case
that it is a subject too hard to resist. The latest gaffe came in the form of recent
derogatory comments by Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, who suggested that business
leaders do not work hard enough. These are certainly not the most helpful
comments ever to come from a government minister – let alone one tasked with boosting
UK trade at this sensitive time.
According to Fox, at what he thought was an off-the-record drinks party, “this country is not the free-trading nation it once was. We have become too lazy, and too fat on our successes in previous generations … 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 - we've got to be saying to them if you want to share in the prosperity of our country you have a duty to contribute to the prosperity of our country.”
Businesses can be accused of many things but I would never level a charge of laziness. As for “too lazy and too fat”, British businesses are operating in one of the most competitive markets in Europe, with the OECD pointing out that labour market regulation is the lowest in the EU and product market deregulation is second only to the Netherlands. Successful businesses in the UK have to work very hard to be successful against that backdrop. Not surprisingly the comments did not go down too well with large parts of the business community. Richard Reed, founder of Innocent Smoothies and a leading figure in the Remain campaign, hit back by saying that Fox had “never done a day’s work in business in his life” and “How dare he talk down a country that he has damaged?”
Indeed, with Fox having been a prominent Brexit campaigner, at odds with large swathes of the business community, his remarks threaten to undermine relations between business and certain elements of government. The comments were not supported by 10 Downing Street. Nor indeed were David Davis’s comments last week suggesting that it is “very improbable” that the UK will remain a member of the EU single market. I still have not worked out whether government ministers are deliberately talking at cross purposes or whether it is all part of Theresa May’s master plan to undermine the credibility of pro-Brexit MPs.
Furthermore, Fox’s comments highlight a gross fallacy at the heart of the Brexit campaign. Recall that many Leavers argued that it was the EU’s bureaucracy that was holding back the UK. But now that the post-EU future may not be as easy to negotiate as many of them argued, there appears to be an attempt to pin the blame on corporate UK as the Leavers get their retaliation in first. I have long pointed out that it would always be difficult to secure the trade deals with the rest of the world that the Leavers promised. This view was reiterated last week by Sir Andrew Cahn, former chief executive of UK Trade and Investment, who pointed out that Fox’s claims the UK would have a network of deals in place by the time it left the EU were “highly unrealistic.” Sir Andrew noted that “trade deals are unsentimental instruments of real world economic and political reality. The more economic weight you have the better deal you get.” In the grand scheme of things the UK is a small to medium-sized open economy. Any trade deals we do get will thus be on terms which are favourable to the bigger players such as the EU, the US and China.
The letters page of The Times yesterday was full of comments regarding Fox’s remarks, noting variously that “Dr Fox’s comments on exporters would carry more weight if the government’s policies backed them … Not only were Dr Fox’s comments ill-considered, they were unhelpful … I have spent my life exporting British-made products [and] I am incensed by his ill-chosen remarks … his support of Brexit has not done exporters any favours. Dr Fox needs to offer constructive help to the business world.“ That is the voice of business. With friends like Fox, who needs enemies?
According to Fox, at what he thought was an off-the-record drinks party, “this country is not the free-trading nation it once was. We have become too lazy, and too fat on our successes in previous generations … 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 - we've got to be saying to them if you want to share in the prosperity of our country you have a duty to contribute to the prosperity of our country.”
Businesses can be accused of many things but I would never level a charge of laziness. As for “too lazy and too fat”, British businesses are operating in one of the most competitive markets in Europe, with the OECD pointing out that labour market regulation is the lowest in the EU and product market deregulation is second only to the Netherlands. Successful businesses in the UK have to work very hard to be successful against that backdrop. Not surprisingly the comments did not go down too well with large parts of the business community. Richard Reed, founder of Innocent Smoothies and a leading figure in the Remain campaign, hit back by saying that Fox had “never done a day’s work in business in his life” and “How dare he talk down a country that he has damaged?”
Indeed, with Fox having been a prominent Brexit campaigner, at odds with large swathes of the business community, his remarks threaten to undermine relations between business and certain elements of government. The comments were not supported by 10 Downing Street. Nor indeed were David Davis’s comments last week suggesting that it is “very improbable” that the UK will remain a member of the EU single market. I still have not worked out whether government ministers are deliberately talking at cross purposes or whether it is all part of Theresa May’s master plan to undermine the credibility of pro-Brexit MPs.
Furthermore, Fox’s comments highlight a gross fallacy at the heart of the Brexit campaign. Recall that many Leavers argued that it was the EU’s bureaucracy that was holding back the UK. But now that the post-EU future may not be as easy to negotiate as many of them argued, there appears to be an attempt to pin the blame on corporate UK as the Leavers get their retaliation in first. I have long pointed out that it would always be difficult to secure the trade deals with the rest of the world that the Leavers promised. This view was reiterated last week by Sir Andrew Cahn, former chief executive of UK Trade and Investment, who pointed out that Fox’s claims the UK would have a network of deals in place by the time it left the EU were “highly unrealistic.” Sir Andrew noted that “trade deals are unsentimental instruments of real world economic and political reality. The more economic weight you have the better deal you get.” In the grand scheme of things the UK is a small to medium-sized open economy. Any trade deals we do get will thus be on terms which are favourable to the bigger players such as the EU, the US and China.
The letters page of The Times yesterday was full of comments regarding Fox’s remarks, noting variously that “Dr Fox’s comments on exporters would carry more weight if the government’s policies backed them … Not only were Dr Fox’s comments ill-considered, they were unhelpful … I have spent my life exporting British-made products [and] I am incensed by his ill-chosen remarks … his support of Brexit has not done exporters any favours. Dr Fox needs to offer constructive help to the business world.“ That is the voice of business. With friends like Fox, who needs enemies?
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