LIAM FOX'S political career is now toast. The report by Sir Gus O'Donnell has left the former Defence Secretary no way back after finding him guilty of breaking ministerial codes and breaching security through his bizarre relationship with his self-styled 'adviser', Adam Werritty.
The Mole hears that even some of Foxy's natural allies on the Tory right in Westminster have turned their backs on him.
One senior Conservative figure close to Margaret Thatcher privately told the Mole he was horrified at the way Fox had paraded the ailing former Conservative Prime Minister at his 50th birthday party last month, when his working relationship with Werritty was already the subject of speculation.
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"I was very shocked that Fox should exploit the lady like that," my source told me. "It was contemptible. She is very ill and he should not have done that."
Sir Gus's report says Fox did not gain financially from his connection with Werritty. Fox had been hoping that with this finding, plus his abject apologies, so 'umble they make Uriah Heep look arrogant, he could make a comeback.
But Cameron has washed his hands of Fox. He now knows that his former Defence Secretary is so 'over' he will carry little weight among the neo-cons on the Tory back-benches. Indeed, his neo-con friends in America are all that Fox has left.
Even so, Cameron clearly fears he could still be damaged by the Fox affair – which could explain the six-hour delay in the release of Sir Gus's report yesterday. There are suspicions in Westminster that the delay was engineered to give Cameron an easier ride at Prime Minister's Questions today.
The report - a full version of which is available at the Cabinet Office website - was due at lunchtime yesterday, but was not released until about 5.45 pm after a special lobby briefing for hacks at Westminster. That made it too late for Fox to make a personal statement to the Commons, and for Sir George Young, the Leader of the House, to make a statement on the report.
Fox and Sir George Young will now come on after PMQs, allowing Cameron to deflect most of the criticism he will face over the shady operation at the Ministry of Defence for answer later by Sir George and/or Fox himself.
The report leaves a huge question mark over what exactly was the basis of the relationship between Fox and Werritty. The most damning finding in the view of many Tory MPs is that Foxy was touting for funding from donors to hand to Werritty. But why was Fox prepared to risk everything for Werritty in this way? This goes to the heart of the matter.
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Crossword: November 3, 2024
