Former Tory minister tears into Theresa May's 'clueless' and 'ludicrous' Cabinet over Brexit
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Loading... - Maya Conte
- 03 Jan 2021
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A former Tory minister has torn into Theresa May's "clueless" and "ludicrous" Cabinet in a devastating attack over Brexit .
Jim O'Neill lashed out at the Prime Minister's trade strategy 15 months after becoming the first minister to resign from her government.
The former Treasury minister, Goldman Sachs chairman and Northern Powerhouse champion said there is not enough focus on major economies like China.
Instead, he said, "ludicrous" Boris Johnson spends "half his life" going to places like New Zealand, which have relatively small economies but strong UK links.
Lord O'Neill told German newspaper Die Welt: "It’s kind of fantasy.
"This year, China is going to grow by 6.7%. In nominal GDP-dollar terms, China will create a new Australia this year.
"It will create four New Zealands this year. And Liam Fox and our ludicrous foreign minister spend half of their life going to New Zealand. It’s mad."
Brexiteers in May’s cabinet like Boris Johnson or Michael Gove were "very intellectual, smart people," he said.
But he added: "They have no clue about the world of economy. They are clueless, sadly. Clueless."
It came as Trade Secretary Liam Fox, set off on a three-day visit to China.
As he left Mr Fox insisted Brexit is “not a time bomb to be defused” and said critics “would rather see Britain fail than Brexit succeed”.
But Labour’s Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer threatened to throw another spanner in the works of Mrs May's Brexit plan through Parliament.
He said the party will force another vote on the government’s plan to take the EU charter of fundamental rights out of UK law.
