Liam Fox's team travelled 240,000 miles during 35 trips
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Britain's International Trade Ministers have covered the same distance from the Earth to the Moon, jetting around the world to try and strike post- Brexit deals.
But Liam Fox and his team have failed to secure a single commitment - despite racking up 240,000 taxpayer-funded air miles.
By comparison, the moon is 238,600 miles from our planet.
Analysis by Labour found Dr Fox and his DIT deputies cruised the skies for 400 hours aboard 100 planes between July and December.
The Secretary of State alone has clocked up more than 60,000 miles on official visits to three continents, Labour said.
They included a five-day trip to India, four days to Brazil, three days to Oman and a two-day trip to Germany.
(Photo: PA)
The findings came from a trawl of publicly-availably transparency data showing that since it was created by Theresa May last July, the Department for International Trade has dispatched its four ministers on 35 trips involving 100 flights covering an estimated 243,170 miles.
But despite their jet-setting across the globe, the quartet has yet to secure a single firm commitment to an immediate free trade agreement after the UK leaves the European Union in 2019.
Cabinet ministers spent more than £1.3million on foreign trips in the six months following last June’s referendum.
In addition to the bill racked up by Mr Fox, Theresa May spent £639, 058 on overseas travel in just six months, the Foreign Office £260,000 and the Department for Culture £53,205.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson covered more than 45,000 air miles during the period and his deputy Alok Sharma 93,000 miles.
The bill for Mr Johnson’s travels was £88,288.
(Photo: WENN)
Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Andrew Gwynne said: “It is shocking to see that at a time when Britain faces ground zero for our global trade deals, Liam Fox and his team are doing nothing except racking up air miles.
“Liam Fox is unable to secure even a single firm commitment for a trade deal, despite the Brexit Secretary promising to deliver ‘a free trade area massively larger than the EU’, before we even leave.
“This is just further proof that the Tory Government has their head in the clouds on the challenges posed by Brexit .
“Ministers have already flown the distance from Earth to Moon on their hopeless excursions, but it seems we are still many galaxies away from Liam Fox finding us our first free trade deal.”
The study also found that the Department has failed to launch even one trade mission to Africa, despite the continent being home to five of the 20 fastest-growing global economies, and the Government’s stated ambition to re-embrace the Commonwealth.
(Photo: PA)
Ministers have taken 15 trips to Asia, 12 trips around Europe, four to North America and three to South America.
Destinations included Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Burma, China, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Colombia, the US, Qatar, Turkey, Israel, Norway, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and France.
Labour claimed the revelations “raise new concerns about Dr Fox’s ability to deliver for free trade”, and the purpose of “highly-paid Ministerial posts that cannot deliver any free trade deals before Britain fully leaves the EU”.
A Department for International Trade spokeswoman said: “Promoting UK businesses and attracting foreign investment is precisely why this Department was created.
“Overseas visits by Ministers has helped DIT secure more than £16.3 billion worth of foreign direct investment to the UK.
“As we prepare to leave the EU, you’d expect our ministers to travel overseas to build relationships with key global trading partners.”
Dr Fox shocks with Philippine comments
Among the countries Liam Fox has visited for trade talks was the Philippines, early this month, where he was criticised for saying the UK has “shared values” with the country when he met the country’s president, Rodrigo Duterte, who has boasted of personally killing criminals.
Mr Duterte’s war on drugs has left thousands of people dead since his election last year.
He has urged the public to kill drug addicts, who he said he would be “happy to slaughter” in their millions.
Dr Fox said: “The UK and the Philippines have a well-established and strong relationship built on a foundation of shared values and shared interests and we want this partnership to continue to flourish.”
Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner said Dr Fox’s comments said at the beginning of April were “frankly shocking”.