Fox apologises to House for ‘blurring lines’ over friend

A list published by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) last night revealed that since taking office about 18 months ago, Dr Fox had spent time with Adam Werritty on 104 days, while the defence consultant – who had no official security clearance – had accompanied him on 18 of his 48 foreign trips as well as meeting him another 22 times in Whitehall.

In a statement to parliament yesterday, Dr Fox apologised for allowing “distinctions to be blurred” between ministerial responsibility and friendship.

But while Prime Minister David Cameron gave his beleaguered minister his support, he also beefed up the investigation, ordering Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, the UK’s most senior civil servant, to complete the one started by MoD permanent secretary Ursula Brennan.

And in the Commons, Labour’s shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy, accused Dr Fox of “driving a coach and horses” through the ministerial code of conduct.

However, the Conservatives last night tried to deflect criticism of Dr Fox by pointing out that Cellcrypt, the American company at the heart of the allegations, had donated £10,000 in flights and hospitality to Labour’s front bench.

It was later revealed that £660 had been given to the Labour frontbench by Graham Cole, the chairman of defence contractor Augusta Westland – registered as a private donation, without the name of the company – for Mr Murphy to go to the Paris Airshow.

Labour accused the Tories of trying to set up a distraction over the unanswered questions Dr Fox faces over the allegations surrounding his contact with Mr Werritty, a former flatmate.

Mr Murphy said it was “beyond doubt” that the Defence Secretary had breached the ministerial code of conduct by attending a meeting in a Dubai hotel with representatives of Cellcrypt arranged by Mr Werritty – the best man at his wedding, who styled himself an adviser to Dr Fox and handed out business cards with that claim on them.

He called on the Prime Minister to refer the case to the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, Sir Philip Mawer.

Dr Fox received strong support from the Tory backbenches as he made his apology to the Commons, while Downing Street said the Defence Secretary “absolutely” retained Mr Cameron’s full confidence.

The 22 visits at the MoD and 18 meetings on the margins of trips abroad detailed in yesterday’s report far exceeded the contacts with Mr Werritty previously confirmed by Dr Fox.

Meetings abroad occurred during family holidays and at the margins of international conferences.

Mr Werritty was with the Defence Secretary when he met the president of Sri Lanka on a personal basis in London last year and joined Dr Fox when he visited the country in July.

But the Defence Secretary told MPs: “Mr Werritty was never present at regular departmental meetings, during private meetings we did not discuss either commercial or defence matters, he had no access to classified documents, nor was he briefed on classified matters.”

But Dr Fox acknowledged he should have been more careful about their contacts, telling MPs: “It was a mistake to allow distinctions to be blurred between my professional responsibilities and my loyalties to a friend.

“I am sorry for this, I have apologised to the Prime Minister, to the public and, at the first opportunity available, to the House.”

Dr Fox confirmed Mr Werritty arranged the Dubai meeting between him and Harvey Boulter, chief executive of the Porton Capital private equity fund, after the pair dined at nearby tables in June this year.

Mr Werritty was able to tell the businessman that Dr Fox was passing through Dubai the following day as the Defence Secretary had himself given him details of his trip back from visiting troops in Afghanistan.

Dr Fox said they had had a “general discussion” about what Mr Porton’s company might do for the MoD, but it did not result in any tender being made for a defence contract.

He told MPs: “I accept that I should not have had a meeting with a potential commercial supplier without an official being present. This was entirely my fault.”

Dr Fox also said he became aware in June that Mr Werritty used a business card with parliaemtn’s portcullis symbol that described him as an adviser to the Defence Secretary, and told him this was inappropriate.

The Defence Secretary told MPs that, to avoid any “appearance of potential wrongdoing”, Mr Werritty will no longer pay private visits to the MoD, attend international conferences where Dr Fox is present or mix socially with him when he is on official business abroad.

Dr Fox also said he first met Mr Werritty in 1998, when he was a paid intern in his Commons office. “He has not received any payment from me while in government,” he said.

In a statement after Mr Cameron received Ms Brennan’s interim report, Downing Street said: “It is clear that much tighter procedures are needed within the department to ensure that the Ministerial Code is properly adhered to in future.”

Labour backbencher John Mann later wrote to parliamentary standards commissioner John Lyon asking him to investigate allegations that Dr Fox allowed Mr Werritty to live rent-free in, and run a business from, a taxpayer-funded property.