The launch of an HMS Brexit to promote the UK across the seven seas as a global trading destination is yet another case of an eye-catching, under-funded and impractical Boris wheeze to join the bridge to Ireland and the Garden Bridge across the Thames.

Clearly, HMS Brexit is a gimmick. However, it does focus attention on a more serious question, which is how the UK and its regions and localities promote themselves to inward investors now that we have left the comfort of the EU, which used to take 50% of our exports.