I read on the BBC website that ‘Britain is “too lazy and too fat” with businessmen preferring “golf on a Friday afternoon” rather than contributing to the country’s prosperity, Liam Fox has said.’ From a man who has never run a business in his life, this is pretty rich. The business people I know have all worked extremely hard to achieve success and whilst some of them do indeed enjoy a round of golf, my answer to that is “so what?” I would rather play golf on any afternoon than go to work.
There is something wonderful about not working on a Friday afternoon. I rarely worked on a Friday afternoon during my civil service career (such that it was) because I would do a week’s work and more in the days that preceded it. There is something grotesquely absurd about Fox’s comments, wild generalisations posing as fact. Some people do indeed play got on a Friday afternoon when work allows it and others go to the pub. Far more people work. I am not sure Fox would even recognise the word work if it slapped him in the face.
Out of interest, and courtesy of Wikipedia (so it must be true), look at the overseas junkets Fox enjoyed with his friend Adam Werrity from 2009 to 2011:
Israel, February 2009.
Singapore, 4–6 June 2010.
Dubai, 7–8 June 2010.
Florida, 2–3 July 2010.
Dubai, 6–8 August 2010.
Washington DC September 2010
Bahrain, 2–6 December 2010.
Dubai, 17–22 December 2010.
Hong Kong, 16–23 January 2011.
Israel, 6–7 February.
Switzerland, 17–21 February.
Dubai, April 2011.
Abu Dhabi, 14–18 April 2011.
Florida/Washington, 22–25 May 2011.
Hong Kong, 31 May – 1 June 2011.
Singapore, 2–6 June 2011.
Sri Lanka, July 2011.
Dubai, 17 June 2011.
Washington DC, 30 June – 3 July 2011.
Spain, 5–9 August.
I am sure ‘Dr’ Fox worked flat out for Queen and country throughout that period and didn’t play any golf at all. It was all strictly business, vital work on behalf of Britain will no obvious results. Fox himself presumably didn’t get “too lazy and too fat” flogging his guts out in Florida, Sri Lanka, Spain, Singapore and just about everywhere else he passed through whilst carrying out vital functions on behalf of HMG. And let’s not even mention Fox remortgaging his London flat, charging the mortgage costs to the taxpayer and then allowing Werrity to stay there rent free.
This is the cosseted world of power and politics, where politicians of all political colours (not all, not even most, but some) push the boundaries to see how much they can get away with. And when you see the story of one MP, Fox, who was forced to resign from the government because of scandal, how can anyone take him seriously when he abuses hardworking businessmen who actually create the prosperity that this country needs?
I never understand how MPs find themselves restored to high positions once they have committed fraud or simply done wrong. Peter Mandelson always seemed to be resigning over something and then coming back and when he couldn’t come back the government made him a Lord. Fiddle some expenses, get caught, resign and then come back a few years later when everyone has either forgotten or doesn’t care.
It is no good Theresa May saying Fox was expressing “personal views”. There is such a thing called cabinet responsibility and he is, unbelievably, in her cabinet. Given that he is supposed to be a major figure in negotiating our exit from the EU, you would think he might be a little more thoughtful about the words he was using. Is he meeting with foreign governments and asking them to business with us, but adding that our business leaders are all “too lazy and too fat”. If that really is how he feels, then why the hell is he doing that job?
Apparently, Britain is “open for business”, as Mrs May keeps reminding us. If only we could take more exercise and lose some weight, Brexit might not be the problem we’ve been fearing.
