Anyone following government trade policy this week might be forgiven for feeling confused. It’s been a confusing few days. On Monday, Liam Fox, the Brexit-cheerleading international trade secretary, declared that Britain would be transformed into a “21st century exporting superpower” by harnessing the untapped potential of the 400,000 companies that can export but choose not to.

It’s a dubious number, but leave that aside. How will this wellspring of trading growth be released? By better promotion, apparently — more advertising of existing finance at home and more “buy British” campaigning abroad. But no new funding to speak of, nothing to match Germany’s chambers of commerce network that gives its mittelstand such a leg-up in foreign markets.

That was on Monday. On Thursday, Dominic Raab, the