DEFENCE Secretary Liam Fox resigned last night after days of mounting pressure over his professional links to his friend, the self-styled advisor Adam Werrity.
Dr Fox had apologised last weekend and he was put under investigation by the Permanent Secretary Gus O'Donnell for an apparent breach of the ministerial code.
But, realising the slow, drip-drip effect of the media storm against him, Dr Fox pre-empted Mr O'Donnell's report by stepping away from frontline politics.
"I mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred," Dr Fox wrote in his resignation letter.
"The consequences of this have become clearer in recent days. I am very sorry for this."
Prime Minister David Cameron praised Dr Fox for his "superb job" in the role but also said he understood the reasons for his departure.
Indeed, Dr Fox's decision relieved some of the pressure on Mr Cameron as well after it appeared that he had effectively passed all responsibility to Mr O'Donnell.
In doing so, Mr Cameron faced accusations of dithering and errors in his judgement, just as he had over his employment of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson once the phone-hacking details emerged.
But at least the PM acted quickly in reshuffling his Cabinet. Transport secretary Philip Hammond moves to Defence while Treasury minister Justine Greening is promoted into Mr Hammond's role.
Although he has no background in Defence, Mr Hammond is seen as a safe pair of hands who will provide continuity for his department at a time in which the British forces are still involved in two wars.
Meanwhile, Ms Greening becomes the fifth woman in the Cabinet as the PM seeks to regain some of the support which the Conservatives have lost among female voters.
Labour has, of course, been making plenty of political capital out of only the second ministerial resignation from the coalition government so far, and the first Conservative to go.
Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy has called on Mr O'Donnell's investigation to be continued despite Dr Fox's resignation.
But, while it looks disingenuous and even hypocritical given the actions of some Cabinet ministers in the previous 13 years, Labour is simply doing the job of HM Loyal Opposition... by opposing.
The press has also come in for some criticism from some members of the Conservative party for having an agenda against Dr Fox.
Peter Bone, who will now be joined on the backbenches by him, was most critical and accused the media of indulging in "tittle-tattle" and organising a "witch-hunt".
Mr Bone added: "He said he made mistakes and with hindsight he wouldn't have done it but I didn't think that was enough to require him to resign."
However, Mr Bone needs to realise that this is exactly the sort of situation which causes a minister to resign.
Of course, the daily front-page headlines will have been hard for Dr Fox to take - and some would even suggest they were unedifying.
But, just as the Labour opposition are there to oppose, then the press are there to hold ministers to account - and it could hardly be said that Dr Fox did not have a case to answer.
After all, Mr Werrity had made as many as 18 trips abroad with the minister despite having no official role in the government.
He had also handed out business cards suggesting he did, in fact, have an official role and he was present at meetings which Dr Fox had with military figures, diplomats and defence contractors.
There remain unanswered questions such as who was funding Mr Werritty's global travels, why were they doing it and why was it allowed to continue for so long.
But, even if the investigation shows Mr Werrity had not paid cash for access to government, the impression that he had done - and the fact that he was too close to Dr Fox - could not be shrugged off.
Dr Fox knows the ministerial code prevents Secretaries of State not only from wrongdoing but also giving an impression of wrongdoing. In this regard, Dr Fox knew he had to resign.
Oddly, by apologising and pre-empting the report, Dr Fox may have saved his political career in the long-term.
Clearly one of the more intelligent ministers of recent times, his mistake was nevertheless a simple one - the entwining of his personal and professional lives.
And, though his position had become untenable, it was not a good old fashioned British sex scandal and no cash has been proven to have actually changed hands between Dr Fox and his friend - yet.
If that remained the case, it would be no surprise to see Dr Fox back at the top of British politics before his career is over.
But he would be wise to read the ministerial code from cover-to-cover first.
No comments:
Post a Comment