Hunting season opens on minister Fox

“No. 10 leaves Fox’s future in doubt,” leads the Guardian, as questions about the relationship between UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox and Adam Werritty continue to dominate the headlines of the British press. Details emerged last week that Werritty, Fox’s former flatmate and best man, had run at the taxpayer’s expense a charity from Fox's office in the houses of parliament. Despite not being a government employee or a member of the British Conservative party, Werritty also distributed business cards embossed with parliament's portcullis logo describing him as an "adviser to the Rt Hon Dr Fox MP". It has since been revealed that Werritty has accompanied Fox on over a third of his 48 trips abroad, including ministerial conferences and family holidays. Little is known as to how Werritty funded such trips although the Guardian notes that “Fox allowed Werritty to organise a meeting between him and a defence contractor in Dubai without informing civil servants.”

The nature of this undisclosed relationship has raised questions as to whether Fox is in breach of his ministerial code of conduct. “Number 10 [the Prime Minister’s office] sources privately acknowledged that it would be serious for Fox if the inquiry finds he knew Werritty was making money from his access,” the London daily writes. Answering questions in the House of Commons, Fox, in unusual English, said he was "confident that Werritty was not dependent on any transactional behaviour" while apologising for the “serious mistakes” he had made.