Liam Fox 'would decline desert island company of politicians'

Liam Fox has said he would rather swim away than be stuck on a desert island with a politician despite Theresa May putting him at the top of the list of potential companions if she were ever stranded.

The Prime Minister said after being struck down by a debilitating cough at her Conservative Party conference speech this month that the International Trade Secretary's background as a GP would make him her choice of company if she were alone on a desert island.

She told LBC: "The name that first went through my mind, maybe it's just because I have had a bad cough, is perhaps Dr Liam Fox would be very practical."

But asked who he would choose to be stuck with, Dr Fox told ITV's Peston On Sunday: "I think in terms of general politics, I'd take up being a long-distance swimmer."