UK POOL

London, 27 February 2018

1. Wide of Britain's International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox at lectern UPSOUND (English) Reporter: "Former Permanent Sir Martin Donnelly has likened the plan that you just outlined to swapping a three course meal for a packet of crisps. What's your response to that and are you concerned there are some in the British establishment who still don't accept Brexit and want to stop it?"

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Liam Fox, Britain's International Trade Secretary:

"First of all it's unsurprising that those who spent a lifetime working within the European Union would see moving away from the European Union as being threatening. The particular choice that I heard Sir Martin Donnelly outline - that was a choice between the European Union and trade opportunities elsewhere and the continuation of EU trade agreements - I don't believe that is the choice that we face. We are already trying to seek a full and liberal partnership with the European Union. We are already having discussions about expanding our trade agreements beyond the EU and we're also talking about rolling over the EU agreements into UK law so that we get no disruption in terms of market access at the point of exit. So it's not a choice of one or the other, and in any case I think the UK Brexit process is as we've all discovered a little more complex than a packet of Walkers. When it comes to the other issues is I hope that we'll be able to persuade our colleagues as the prime minister sets out the case that the cabinet decided at Chequers last week that they will find that persuasive and they will understand that the benefits of the approach that the prime minister will set out will actually be to the greater prosperity and security of the people of this country and I hope they will understand that the drawbacks of the customs union that I've set out today would remarkably hinder this country in terms of the future economic opportunities that might otherwise be available.

3. Wide of Fox at lectern

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Liam Fox, Britain's International Trade Secretary UPSOUND (English) Reporter: "Dr Fox, given that your former head of department has said you'd need a Fairy Godmother to get the kind of "have cake and eat it" deal that he says you want with the European Union (reporter appears in shot) and you yourself have said that British business needs to raise its game to take advantage of Brexit. Is the greatest danger that Brexit could lead to national self harm or that there simply aren't enough true believers like you?"

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Liam Fox, Britain's International Trade Secretary:

"I think that we need to set out an ambitious programme for the United Kingdom. It's not about sticking to the patterns of the past. And I understand as I say that those who have been professionally committed to those for many years would want to adhere to them. I want to think beyond where we are today, to the opportunities available to (in) the future. The fact, as I said at the beginning, that the IMF has pointed out that 90 percent of global growth will be outside the European continent in the next 10 to 15 years. We cannot afford to be bound by the practices and the patterns of the past. We have to take the opportunities available unfettered by those who would make the rules on our behalf."

6. Wide of Fox at lectern

Britain must leave the EU customs union to strike new trade deals after Brexit, the country's trade minister said in a speech in London on Tuesday, widening a major fissure within British politics over future trade relations with the bloc.

UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said 90 percent of global growth in the next 10 to 15 years will be outside Europe, and remaining inside the tariff-free EU trade zone would limit Britain's opportunities to strike new trade deals with the world's fastest-growing economies.

"We cannot afford to be bound by the practices and the patterns of the past. We have to take the opportunities available unfettered by those who would make the rules on our behalf," he said.

But Fox was contradicted by the trade department's former top civil servant, Sir Martin Donnelly, who left his job last year, who said quitting the customs union was like "giving up a three-course meal ... for the promise of a packet of crisps."

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that 60 percent of Britain's trade is with the EU or with countries that have EU trade deals.

"The particular choice that I heard Sir Martin Donnelly outline - that was a choice between the European Union and trade opportunities elsewhere and the continuation of EU trade agreements - I don't believe that is the choice that we face," Fox said, when asked to respond to Donnelly's comments.

And commenting on Sir Martin's claim that Britain would need a Fairy Godmother to get a good EU deal Fox said that Britain needed to look "beyond where we are today."

"I understand as I say that those who have been professionally committed to those for many years would want to adhere to them. I want to think beyond where we are today, to the opportunities available to (in) the future," he told reporters.

Fox spoke a day after opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said his Labour Party would "seek to negotiate a new, comprehensive UK-EU customs union to ensure there are no tariffs with Europe."

The issue is a major fault line in UK Brexit plans. While pro-Brexit politicians such as Fox argue for leaving the customs union and the EU's single market in goods and services, others want Britain to retain close ties with the EU to soften the economic shock of leaving.