Liam Fox's target for post-Brexit exports is wishful thinking | Larry Elliott

The UK increasing overseas sales to 35% of GDP is a nice idea but too few British firms are onside

The timing of the government's latest export drive is far from accidental. With Theresa May intent on showing Brussels that Britain could not just survive but thrive in the event of a hard Brexit, Whitehall has come up with a plan for increasing the amount of goods and services sold overseas.

This is by no means the first attempt to broaden the horizons of UK plc. Back in 2015, the aim was to double exports to 1tn a year by 2020. That always looked a stretch and the target was dropped by the international trade secretary, Liam Fox, early last year.