Liam Fox’s department was forced to delete a tweet today after promoting an article that attacked Treasury forecasts.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) promoted an article that cited analysis by the Economists for Free Trade (EFT), and included criticism of both the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
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In its analysis, the EFT claimed Britain could be in line for a £135bn windfall between 2020 and 2025 if it commits to “classic free trade” on leaving the EU and remains restrained with public spending.
Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg also claimed in the report that the Treasury had made “false assumptions” about the future of the UK’s public purse.
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Mogg, who campaigned for Brexit, said the public finances will be in a “much better” position than the OBR was forecasting.
Labour MP Chuka Umunna called out the DIT, asking why it would seemingly support an attack on another department. DIT later removed the tweet. A DIT spokesperson said the tweet was sent in error and did not come from Fox himself.
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