"I hadn't quite understood the full extent of this, but if you look at the UK and look at how we trade in goods, we are particularly reliant on the Dover-Calais crossing," Mr. Raab said at a tech firm event on Wednesday evening.
Anyway here’s a video of the man in charge of Brexit negotiations saying he’s only just realised that a lot of our food arrives by boat pic.twitter.com/SriPuiFXY4
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) November 8, 2018
"And that is one of the reasons why we have wanted to make sure we have a specific and very proximate relationship with the EU, to ensure frictionless trade at the border," he continued.
Social media did not take his comments lightly, as a mixture of panic and ridicule immediately ensued.
Dominic Raab's devastating insight about the importance of Dover has huge implications for our understanding of this mysterious building, previously thought to have been a cowshed. pic.twitter.com/GWoOwR7Vht
— Marc Morris (@Longshanks1307) November 8, 2018
Memo to Dominic Raab — There's plenty of channel & North Sea ports allowing easy passage of goods from the continent to the UK. The Dutch & Belgian ports would love to lift more of the Calais-Dover trade. Calais has made quite clear it wants to keep the trade. No need to worry.
— John Redwood (@johnredwood) November 8, 2018
Next week on Dominic Raab's Guide to Brexit — "I hadn't realised Ireland is actually a separate island" https://t.co/fe7Sid5YdT
— The Irish Border (@BorderIrish) November 8, 2018
Dominic Raab refers to the “peculiar geographic entity that is the United Kingdom”. He means we're an island — https://t.co/tI5MjAzwsI
— AndrewSparrow (@AndrewSparrow) November 8, 2018
Dominic Raab latest:
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) November 8, 2018
"I hadn't understood that the Apple logo is an apple! Or that pancakes are called that because they're cakes cooked in a pan! Or that I'm an idiot who's out of his depth & driving the UK off a cliff. Near France. Which amazingly has a sea between us and it!"‘Dominic Raab discovers that England is close to France’
Could we put Brexit on hold while the Cabinet does GCSE geography?
— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) November 8, 2018Eagerly anticipating him finding out how far away Canada is.
— Kevin Walker (@verybadgolf) November 8, 2018I can't help thinking how much better informed Dominic Raab would have been had he just had a window seat when he first flew out of the country,
— Paul (@PaulOnBooks) November 8, 2018Dominic Raab hospitalised after getting into a fight with his reflection in mirror
— LCD Views (@LcdViews) November 8, 2018
"These comments are shocking," Best for Britain supporter Jo Stevens said.
"We finally have an admission of what we've known all along — that the Brexiteers hadn't really thought through any of the impacts of leaving the EU," she continued.
"British jobs, supplies and services rely on key border crossings like the Dover strait and the fact that the Brexit Secretary is only just realising this is a serious cause for concern."
READ MORE: May Says EU Withdrawal Won't Be Finished 'At Any Cost', UK 'Heading for No Deal'
The latest faux pas comes after Brexit secretary recanted on statements that the UK government would ink a Brexit agreement by 21 November.
To his credit, Mr Raab rejected claims of a "risk of major shortages" in the event frictionless trade with the EU ceases post-Brexit.
"I think probably the average consumer might not be aware of the full extent to which the choice of goods that we have in the stores are dependent on one or two very specific trade routes," Raab said.
