political correspondent(es/wp):
The UK has lost its way as a trading nation because “lazy” executives prefer to play golf instead of fulfilling their duties as exporters, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has suggested.
In an extraordinary attack on British business culture, the Cabinet minister indicated the UK had grown "too fat" on the successes of previous generations.
Dr Fox made the unguarded comments at a reception for the Thatcherite Conservative Way Forward group, where he told audience members British business attitudes had to adapt.
He said: "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." At the drinks reception on Thursday night, reported by The Times, Dr Fox said: "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 told supporters of the Conservative Way Forward group: "If you want to share in the prosperity of our country, you have a duty to contribute to the prosperity of our country."
Number 10 distanced itself from Dr Fox's comments, with a source saying he was expressing "private views" while a spokesman for the minister said he was committed to supporting UK business.
Dr Fox also risked inflaming tensions between his department, created by Theresa May when she entered Number 10, and Boris Johnson's Foreign Office.
In his speech to Tory activists, Dr Fox dismissed the "Foreign Office view of the world" for focusing on capital cities and diplomacy rather than commerce, the newspaper reported.
He said his department would "look at the GDP map of the world" - noting that the city of Los Angeles has higher gross domestic product than Saudi Arabia.
"We have to start to think about (the world) in a totally different way," he told the reception.
"We've got to change from the cartographer's view of the world to the mercantilist view of the world. The structures of government (have) to respond to where the opportunities arise and the size of markets."
A Number 10 source said "clearly he's expressing private views" and there were no proposals for any penalties for firms that do not export.
A spokesman for the Trade Secretary said: "Dr Fox is committed to supporting the full range of businesses in the UK so that they can best take advantage of the opportunities that Brexit presents."
The UK has lost its way as a trading nation because “lazy” executives prefer to play golf instead of fulfilling their duties as exporters, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has suggested.
In an extraordinary attack on British business culture, the Cabinet minister indicated the UK had grown "too fat" on the successes of previous generations.
Dr Fox made the unguarded comments at a reception for the Thatcherite Conservative Way Forward group, where he told audience members British business attitudes had to adapt.
He said: "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." At the drinks reception on Thursday night, reported by The Times, Dr Fox said: "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 told supporters of the Conservative Way Forward group: "If you want to share in the prosperity of our country, you have a duty to contribute to the prosperity of our country."
Number 10 distanced itself from Dr Fox's comments, with a source saying he was expressing "private views" while a spokesman for the minister said he was committed to supporting UK business.
Dr Fox also risked inflaming tensions between his department, created by Theresa May when she entered Number 10, and Boris Johnson's Foreign Office.
In his speech to Tory activists, Dr Fox dismissed the "Foreign Office view of the world" for focusing on capital cities and diplomacy rather than commerce, the newspaper reported.
He said his department would "look at the GDP map of the world" - noting that the city of Los Angeles has higher gross domestic product than Saudi Arabia.
"We have to start to think about (the world) in a totally different way," he told the reception.
"We've got to change from the cartographer's view of the world to the mercantilist view of the world. The structures of government (have) to respond to where the opportunities arise and the size of markets."
A Number 10 source said "clearly he's expressing private views" and there were no proposals for any penalties for firms that do not export.
A spokesman for the Trade Secretary said: "Dr Fox is committed to supporting the full range of businesses in the UK so that they can best take advantage of the opportunities that Brexit presents."
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