Fox and Werrity: Labour demands Cameron answers 10 key questions

Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy challenges No 10 to reveal ‘the full extent of wrongdoing at the heart of government’ Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy has sent a list of 10 questions to David Cameron, which he says remain unanswered about Liam Fox’s use of his best friend Adam Werritty as his personal foreign envoy in defiance of parliamentary rules. In a letter sent on Sunday to No 10, Murphy demands that the prime minister “reveal the full extent of the wrongdoing which took place at the heart of government”. Murphy’s letter, seen by the Guardian, calls on Cameron to detail exactly who funded Werritty’s jetset lifestyle and whether they were seeking political favours from Fox in return. “We still do not know the full facts about the money trail which led to the resignation of the Rt Hon Member for North Somerset, we do not know the true role and motivations of Mr Werritty, and we do not know who exactly in the government met Mr Werritty and whether there was any prior knowledge of the former defence secretary’s activities.” Murphy also demanded a “categorical guarantee” that no other ministers have a similar unorthodox relationship with an unofficial adviser – a question Cameron has repeatedly refused to answer. Murphy’s letter also demands publication of a full list of all ministers, MPs and government officials that Werritty has met since the election. It has emerged that Werritty also met Gerald Howarth, minister for defence exports, and Lord Astor, Lords spokesman on defence, on “social occasions”, which suggests no civil servants were present. He also called on Cameron to publish a “full list” of the people and organisations that funded Pargav, the “slush fund” created to support Werritty’s lifestyle. “In particular will you provide the details of which IRG Ltd the cabinet secretary’s report makes reference to,” Murphy asks. There are more than 30 companies and organisations that use the initial IRG. Murphy said the cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell’s report into Werritty’s activities failed to address serious issues that raise further questions that “go to the heart of trust in the government and the country’s political system”. The Labour MP for East Renfrewshire said Cameron’s “dismissal” of direct questions from Labour leader Ed Miliband during prime minister’s questions last week was “completely at odds with the transparency of which you have regularly spoken”. “As you have said in the foreword to the ministerial code, ‘people have lost faith in politics and politicians. It is our duty to restore their trust. It is not enough simply to make a difference. We must be different.’ It is your responsibility to give these words meaning by publicly providing answers to these questions,” Murphy said. “Throughout this scandal it has been clear that you have tried to avoid public association with it. It is not credible to continue to refuse to answer the questions about the actions of the individual you chose as your first defence secretary at such a crucial time for our country.” The letter was sent as reports emerged that William Hague, the foreign secretary, had told Fox to rein in Werritty after MI6 warned that the self-styled adviser was attempting to interfere in official government policy in Iran. The Guardian understands Werritty has held several meetings with Iranian opposition groups, who were led to believe that the 33-year-old was an official government adviser. The fresh revelations about Werritty’s role in Iran come a week after Hague told the BBC that the suggestion that Fox and Werritty were running a “completely separate [foreign] policy is a fanciful idea”. “One adviser or non-adviser, whatever he may have been to one minister, isn’t able to run a totally different policy from the rest of the government. And I think people can at least be reassured about that,” Hague told the Andrew Marr show last Sunday. Murphy also asked whether Cameron was aware that Howard Leigh, the Conservative party treasurer, introduced Fox to rich Tory donors who went on to fund Werritty. Number 10 has declined to comment. The parliamentary standards watchdog is already investigating whether Fox breached the rules by allowing Werritty to run a right-wing charity from his Portcullis House office. The City of London police are considering launching a fraud investigation into Werritty’s attempts to pass himself off as Fox’s official adviser by handing out Westminster-style business cards describing himself as “an adviser to the Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP”. Additional reporting by Saeed Kamali Dehghan Liam Fox Adam Werritty Jim Murphy Labour David Cameron Conservatives Liberal-Conservative coalition Rupert Neate guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.