Liam Fox predicted in October 2017 that the UK would replicate all the EU’s trade deals by March

Liam Fox is facing demands to explain why about 40 European Union trade deals that he said Britain would secure “one second after midnight” on Brexit day may not be ready in time.

MPs have called on the international trade secretary, a Brexiteer, to set out the “catastrophic” impact of losing access to agreements with dozens of countries, from South Korea and South Africa to Canada and Japan, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

The cabinet minister conceded yesterday that Britain’s ability to maintain the deals after Brexit depended on whether other nations were prepared to “put in the work”. He had predicted in October 2017 that the UK would replicate all the EU’s trade deals by March “so we’ve got no