(UK defence minister Liam Fox) British Official Answers Questions on His Aide

[alp227]

Source: NY Times

Britain’s minister of defense, Liam Fox, appeared on Monday to have won at least a temporary stay in office after a protracted public apology for misjudgments in his personal relationship with a man who has traveled widely with him on his overseas trips and been a frequent visitor to his Whitehall office.

After days of searing headlines about what Mr. Fox has acknowledged as a “blurring” of the line between his official and private lives in his relationship with Adam Werritty, who describes himself as a defense consultant, the government of Prime Minister David Cameron entered the week facing the most serious ministerial crisis in its 17 months in office — and a major distraction, as Mr. Cameron called it, from his focus on the mounting economic crisis in Europe and the challenges it poses for Britain.

In the reckoning of many of Britain’s political commentators, there was a strong possibility that the prime minister would demand Mr. Fox’s prompt resignation. That outcome appeared to have been narrowly avoided on Monday, but far from quashed in the light of a continuing inquiry into the affair ordered by the prime minister.

Without offering any broader characterization of his relationship with Mr. Werritty, the 50-year-old defense minister has responded to his critics in Parliament and the news media by accusing them of “a lot of speculation and a lot of innuendo,” as well as “constant sniping and undermining,” in their questioning of how the relationship affected his defense responsibilities.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/world/europe/british-defense-minister-liam-fox-answers-questions-on-his-aide.html

---

I've seen stories about Fox on The Guardian, and now the American NY Times has started covering the Fox scandal.