Adam Werritty

Financial backers linked to Israel and a private intelligence firm helped fund Werritty's travels with Fox.[8] In April 2007, Werritty and Fox attended an official meeting with the Gulf Research Centre, an independently run body that conducts research on issues concerning the Middle East. The two also attended an Israeli security conference centred on relations with Palestine, as well as Iranian sanctions, which took place in Herzliya in 2009. Fox is a strong supporter of Israel and is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel.[27] Werritty is listed in conference proceedings as "Dr. Adam Werritty", an adviser to Fox in his role as Shadow Defence Secretary.[28] In September 2010 the pair were in Washington and met at a defence industry dinner attended by some of the US's leading generals, including General James Mattis, commander of US Central Command.[29]

In June 2011 Werritty organised a business meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai. The meeting was attended by Werritty, Fox, the British private equity boss and CEO of the Porton Group Harvey Boulter, and two other Dubai-based businessmen.[30] Werritty had earlier been contacted by a lobbying firm known as Tetra Strategy, whom Boulter had hired at a rate of £10,000 per month, in an attempt to have Fox intervene in a Porton Group legal dispute that indirectly involved the MoD. Tetra are believed to have begun working towards arranging a meeting with Werritty or Fox as early as 25 March 2011. In an email from Lee Petar, Tetra's boss, to Boulter, Werrity is described as the "special adviser to the secretary of state for defence Liam Fox."[31]

Werritty's initial meeting with Boulter in April 2011 led to discussions with Fox regarding the sale of a product called Cellcrypt.[32] The 45-minute Dubai meeting in June 2011 was primarily about the possible sale of the voice encryption software to the British MoD. Boulter has claimed that the matter of a legal battle between Porton Group and 3M concerning Acolyte, an EU regulatory approved rapid detection technology for MRSA, and a deal worth £41 million was allocated no more than 5–10 minutes at the end of the meeting.[32][33][34] According to The Guardian, details relating to the nature of the visit and the business matters discussed suggest that it was "highly irregular". The MoD has stated that there were no officials present at the meeting but that one of those present claimed to have received the impression that all of those in attendance had been security cleared. Werritty did not have such clearance.[35]

On 7 October 2011, The Guardian reported that Werritty met senior Sri Lankan ministers on an official visit with Fox in summer 2011.[36] The Sri Lankan trip was originally scheduled for December 2010 but a disagreement with the foreign secretary, William Hague, saw the visit changed to July despite allegations that the Sri Lankan government supported paramilitary groups in defeating the Tamil Tigers. As a result of the trip questions were raised about the appropriateness of Werritty accompanying Fox on government trips abroad.[37] Fox had previously claimed that Werritty had never joined him on such trips but details relating to how frequently Werritty was in his company while abroad later emerged.[38]

Between February 2009 and 2011 Werritty was in Fox's company on many trips abroad:[39]

• Israel, February 2009.
• Singapore, 4–6 June 2010.
• Dubai, 7–8 June 2010.
• Florida, 2–3 July 2010.
• Dubai, 6–8 August 2010.
• Washington DC September 2010
• Bahrain, 2–6 December 2010.
• Dubai, 17–22 December 2010.
• Hong Kong, 16–23 January 2011.
• Israel, 6–7 February.
• Switzerland, 17–21 February.
• Dubai, April 2011.
• Abu Dhabi, 14–18 April 2011.
• Florida/Washington, 22–25 May 2011.
• Hong Kong, 31 May – 1 June 2011.
• Singapore, 2–6 June 2011.
• Sri Lanka, July 2011.
• Dubai, 17 June 2011.
• Washington DC, 30 June – 3 July 2011.
• Spain, 5–9 August.

Wealthy Conservative donors including Michael Hintze indirectly provided financial support for Werrity's role as a political and strategic adviser to Fox by funding organisations such as Atlantic Bridge, a registered charity set up by Fox and run by Werrity that was used to bankroll the adviser's various international travels.[40] Hintze, a major Tory party donor, donated £104,000 to Fox's charity. He also provided Werritty with free office space at the headquarters of his £5bn CQS hedge fund and allowed both Fox and Werritty to use his private jet. Days before the forced cessation of Atlantic Bridge's operations by the Charity Commission, Werrity founded a company called Pargav Ltd., which went on to receive a further £147,000 in donations from Tory party supporters and businessmen. Pargav's sole director was Oliver Hylton, a close senior aide of Hintze's and the manager of his charitable foundation that paid the donations to Atlantic Bridge.[41] It emerged that Hylton, who was initially suspended by CQS following news of the Werrity affair, later ceased employment with the company.[42]

Werritty was involved in a number of secret meetings (the first, on 8 September 2009) organised by Denis Macshane, involving himself and Matthew Gould, Britain's Ambassador to Israel, with the intention of enlisting British support for an Israeli attack on Iran.[43][44]

Werrity's close ties to Conservative hardliners, it was argued, enabled him to bypass Whitehall officials and helped Fox promote strongly pro-American policies and Euroscepticism in the UK and abroad. In response to revelations about Werrity's activities becoming publicly known, Fox's political allies launched an effort to distance Werritty from the minister by describing him as an opportunist who had "taken advantage" of his personal relationship with Fox and as someone who was a fantasist "masquerading as someone he was not."[1][45][46]

Werritty distributed business cards that declared he was an "advisor (sic) to the Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP" although Fox claims he requested him not to do so.[35] Werritty also made visits to Fox at the MoD's HQ in Whitehall on 22 occasions in 16 months which led the Labour Party to request an inquiry into a possible national security breach.[47] Werrity was able to arrange access to the minister for private sector companies on matters where they could both see commercial gains, despite denials of any role as an adviser.[48]

Fox has claimed that Werritty was not connected with backers of companies who wanted defence contracts but was instead funded by ideological backers. According to the BBC this meant that Fox was using sources of advice outside the Civil Service and paid for by private funds.[8] Fox has declared that: "I do accept that given Mr Werritty's defence-related business interests, my frequent contacts with him may have given an impression of wrongdoing, and may also have given third parties the misleading impression that Mr Werritty was an official adviser rather than simply a friend".[49]

The former chairman of the Standards and Privileges Committee, Sir Alistair Graham, stated that Fox had shown serious misjudgement[50] and the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson observed that whatever Fox claimed "many will judge that Adam Werritty acted as his adviser...his business cards stated he was an adviser, he booked hotels as an adviser, he fixed meetings with people who believed he was an adviser...he raised funds from people who thought that too...[and] the sole director of the not-for-profit company set up to fund Werritty regarded him as 'an adviser of some sort to Dr Fox'."[49]

Werritty was also responsible for operating The Atlantic Bridge from Fox's office at taxpayers' expense. The conservative "charity" worked in conjunction with a US lobbying group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which allows cooperation between legislators and corporations such as Philip Morris, Texaco and McDonald's in addressing common interests. According to US charity records, Werritty was listed as the UK executive director with an address corresponding to Fox's former room at the House of Commons, No. 341 in the MPs' block at Portcullis House, which served as the charity's official headquarters. The Guardian reported that, between 2007 and 2010, Werritty's income as chief executive of The Atlantic Bridge was in excess of £90,000. The charity was established by Fox to help US/UK relations and serve as a reminder of the Reagan-Thatcher era and Werritty was given a lead role. The charity also functioned as a counterpart to the ALEC-founded Atlantic Bridge Group, a sister organisation in the United States. Following criticism by regulators that the charity was too politically oriented to be eligible for charitable status, the UK wing disbanded in September 2011.[5][37]

On 14 October 2011, following the furore over Adam Werritty, Liam Fox resigned from his position of Defence Secretary.[51]