One of Britain's best-known entrepreneurs has told Business Insider that Liam Fox is "utterly unfit" to be in office, after the International Trade Secretary accused British business of not putting in enough effort into exporting their products overseas. Lord Bilimoria, best known as the co-founder of Cobra beer, was responding to Fox's claim that British businesses are making his job harder because they don't want to export their goods.

"I can agree as many trade agreements as I like, but if British business doesn’t want to export, then that doesn't do us any good," Fox told House Magazine this week. Fox has previously claimed that many business people are "too fat and too lazy" and spend too much time playing golf, rather than doing their jobs.

Bilimoria told BI on Friday that Fox's comments amounted to an "insult" to British business people across the board and show he is "completely unsuited" for the office. "At Cobra I've got exporting experience covering a quarter of a century and he's somebody who has never run a business in his life trying to say I'm not working hard enough. He's saying we are not working hard enough because he can't sign trade deals."

Bilimoria, who has previously said that he voted for Remain in the EU referendum, added: "50% of our trade is with the EU. Our biggest export markets are within the EU. On top of that, almost 20% of our trade is with 50 countries which have free trade agreements with the EU, including Japan. So, is Liam Fox trying to tell business and exporters like me that I want to sacrifice 70% of our trade worldwide to try and go after the 30%? They are in absolute dreamland — and business understands this."