Liam Fox furious as friends brief against Werritty

Defence secretary’s allies describe Adam Werritty as a Walter Mitty figure who had exaggerated his connections The battle to keep Liam Fox in office is in disarray as allies of the defence secretary began to distance themselves from his close friend Adam Werritty, describing him as a Walter Mitty figure who had exaggerated his connections as Fox’s adviser. It is understood that the briefings were not sanctioned by Fox or Downing Street, and were regarded as unhelpful to the embattled defence secretary. The cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, is now due to decide in days rather than weeks how serious he regards Fox’s apparent multiple breaches of the ministerial code. Fox’s cause is regarded as terminal if it is shown he knew Werritty was being paid by defence-related interests. It is understood that Werritty claims that his work, including his multiple global trips, was funded by ideologically sympathetic philanthropists, without any direct connection to specific defence contracts. Some of them were introduced to Werritty by Fox. Senior figures in the Ministry of Defence said Fox’s chances of survival were 50-50. “If he goes, it will not be because of security leaks or his private life. It will be due to money.” The initial attempt to denigrate Werritty by describing him as a fantasist is in part an attempt to argue that Fox neither knew nor condoned the extent to which Werritty was claiming he worked for Fox. “Essentially, he was masquerading as something he was not, ” said one official. “He [Werritty] shouldn’t have been acting that way. Liam has told him to tell the truth and not to hide anything.” The Guardian understands that Werritty has admitted to the inquiry that he may have unintentionally misled some of his business associates about the role he played with Fox, allowing them to form the impression he was an official aide. Werritty was interviewed on Tuesday by the Cabinet Office’s director of propriety and ethics, Sue Gray, who has asked him to provide documents setting out his business arrangements. The inquiry has been told Werritty was being funded by ideological allies of Fox, both in the UK and the US. One senior Whitehall official told the Guardian it was “inconceivable” that the defence secretary did not know that his friend was passing himself off as his unofficial envoy. Fox also continued to see Werritty even after he had reprimanded him for using a business card declaring he was an adviser to Fox, a fact that Fox did not tell his permanent secretary, Ursula Brennan, until she read it in a Guardian article. A few days later Fox and his wife still went on holiday to Spain with Werritty. It is also unlikely that Fox would have allowed “a Walter Mitty figure” to sit alongside him when he sat down for a social dinner with commander designate for Nato in Afghanistan at a Steakhouse in Tampa Florida.David Cameron said at prime minister’s questions that he was waiting for the O’Donnell inquiry before deciding whether to sack Fox. “I ask people to have a little patience and wait for the facts to be established,” he said. In a separate development, Conservative headquarters insisted there had been no attempt to cover up the fact that a man was staying with Fox when his home was burgled during the 2010 election campaign. Fox had a laptop, a mobile phone and keys to a Skoda taken, and the Skoda was driven away. At the time, journalists were told that Fox was alone, but Fox says he told the police a friend was staying with him. A Conservative spokesperson said: “As Liam Fox said last night, he told police at the time of the burglary that a friend was staying in his guest room, and that he does not know why the media were given the impression he was alone. We have looked into how incorrect information was briefed out. We have established that it was released in good faith and that it was the result of a genuine misunderstanding.” Friends of Fox, such as Chris Grayling, the employment minister, under pressure from the media, stressed that Fox was a “happily married” man. Grayling said: “If you look around the Westminster village, you will find all kinds of wild gossip about all kinds of individuals in all parties. That doesn’t mean they are not good at their jobs. I’ve known Liam for many years, I’ve known Liam and his wife, they’ve always struck me as being a very happily married couple. The reality is that the gossip is certainly circulating. “I thought we had got past the point in politics though where we needed to worry about people’s private lives. The question is, is somebody doing an important and capable job?” Liam Fox and Adam Werritty links Liam Fox Adam Werritty Ministry of Defence Defence policy Patrick Wintour Nick Hopkins Rupert Neate guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 12, 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.