The government is set to recruit an external adviser to identify new opportunities created by Britain’s split from the European Union, David Frost has announced.
Nearly five years on from the divisive Brexit referendum, Boris Johnson’s government is still struggling to demonstrate the benefits Britain has gained from being outside the EU.
A task force set up to assess how Britain can re-shape its economy led by former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith has yet to publicly make any suggestions.
Addressing a committee of MPs on Monday, Lord Frost said “we have high hopes of outside input into this process,” adding that “we’re all fully behind making things happen.”
Frost said the government is looking at areas such as financial services regulation, reform to agricultural subsidies and speeding up clinical trials of drugs, but the news has provoked widespread disbelief on social media.
Here’s what people had to say:
Let me see if I have this right: The people who spent the last six years telling us all about the tremendous opportunities outside the EU – and criticising anyone who didn’t “believe” – have no idea what those opportunities are and only now thought to recruit someone who might. https://t.co/4f68AbQiFb pic.twitter.com/4zYuJtNchs
— Alex Andreou (@sturdyAlex) May 17, 2021
Five years after the referendum, the government is reduced to hiring people to find the benefits of Brexit. https://t.co/r9XeByWZ8k
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) May 17, 2021
Am I reading this correctly? Five years after the referendum the Government is looking for someone to help them find “benefits of Brexit?” https://t.co/Fx7SGbaJ63
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) May 17, 2021
Hang on. I thought Iain Duncan Donuts was chairing a whole ‘task force’ dedicated to identifying post-Brexit opportunities? It’s called TIGRR, I believe. Someone should tell Frost. https://t.co/3YGWmMMOsY
— James O’Brien (@mrjamesob) May 17, 2021
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