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Faux Pas: Brexit Secretary Raab Slammed on Twitter for Dover-Calais Comments

© AP Photo / Matt DunhamVisitors look down from the top of a section of the White Cliffs of Dover, south east England, Thursday, June 9, 2016.
Visitors look down from the top of a section of the White Cliffs of Dover, south east England, Thursday, June 9, 2016. - Sputnik International
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UK Brexit secretary Dominic Raab came under fire on Thursday after saying he "hadn't quite understood" the importance of British trade with Europe.

"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. 

"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. 

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, left, walk with British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, and her husband Philip May, hidden, prior to a diner at the Fort de Bregancon in Bornes-les-Mimosas, southern France, Friday Aug. 3, 2018 - Sputnik International
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He said UK Prime Minister Theresa May was inking a trade deal which recognised the "peculiar geographic economic entity" of the island-state, adding that shoppers may expect less diversity at shops if Brexit disrupts cross-Channel trade with France. 

Social media did not take his comments lightly, as a mixture of panic and ridicule immediately ensued. 

"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.

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