Liam Fox said to be ‘seething’ after being snubbed from Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations inner circle
LIAM Fox has been locked out of Theresa May’s inner circle on Brexit negotiations, No10 announced last night.
The International Trade Secretary has not been asked to join the PM’s new Cabinet committee on how to carry out the high stakes ‘Article 50’ exit talks over the next two years.
Dr Fox was said by one Whitehall insider to be “seething” about the decision last night.
The prominent Leave campaigner is the only one of the Three Brexiteer Cabinet ministers with specific EU exit-related jobs to be excluded.
The PM will chair meetings of the ultra-tight group of five, officially known as the EU Exit and Trade (Negotiations) sub-committee.
No10 sources said the membership of it is being kept to a minimum in a bid to preserve the utmost secrecy.
The other members are Chancellor Philip Hammond, Brexit Secretary David Davis, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
A senior Whitehall insider said: “Locking out Fox out will cause problems.
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“You don’t want to make an enemy of Liam, and he is seething about it as he believes he has a right to be there.
“His problem is people close to the Prime Minister don’t trust him.”
The move came after Dr Fox angered the PM two weeks ago by publicly challenging her authority to insist students should be excluded from immigration figures.
Downing Street formally slapped him down.
The PM also created a second new Cabinet sub-committee yesterday to deal specifically with international trade issues.
Dr Fox is a member of that one, along with 15 other senior ministers including Tory party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin and the secretaries of state for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.