Liam Fox red-faced after endorsing book critical of Brexit

Pro-Brexit Cabinet Minister Liam Fox faced embarrassment last night after it was revealed that he commissioned and endorsed a new book which warns of the damaging effects of a ‘hard’ Brexit.

The International Trade Secretary has written a foreword for the book about a 19th Century economist which includes the claim that leaving the EU without a deal would cause a 43 per cent fall in UK exports to the EU and a drop in household incomes.

Dr Fox has said the UK should not fear a ‘no deal’ Brexit. 

The book includes an essay by academic Swati Dhingra (pictured), who argues that obtaining no deal with the EU would lead to a rise in trade tariffs

But the book includes an essay by academic Swati Dhingra, who argues that obtaining no deal with the EU would lead to a rise in trade tariffs, ‘causing a 43 per cent reduction in exports to the EU and a three per cent fall in average UK incomes, compared to a no Brexit scenario’.

The book, Cloth For Wine? The Relevance of Ricardo’s Comparative Advantage in the 21st Century – a collection of essays about the 19th Century classical economist David Ricardo – was commissioned by Dr Fox’s in preparation for Brexit.

Campaigners against a hard Brexit say that amounts to an annual £103 billion fall in UK exports, while the drop in incomes would cost the average UK household £816 a year.

Last night, Labour MP Conor McGinn, from the anti-hard Brexit campaign group Open Britain, said: ‘This would be laughable if it weren’t so serious. The way this Government is handling Brexit has been an utter shambles.’

A spokesman for Dr Fox said: ‘We are confident of securing a deal which is in the interests of both the UK and our European partners.’