Tory supporting paper The Mail on Sunday reports today that Liam Fox’s ministerial team at the Defence Ministry is a hundred per cent behind him in his fight to retain the funding necessary for the armed forces to retain current strength.
It appears that the three Tory ministers, Gerald Howarth, Peter Luff and Andrew Robathan are prepared to walk if Mr Fox doesn’t get his way against George Osborne. (The other ministers in the department are Liberal Nick Harvey and Tory Lord Astor.)
Last month a letter from the Defence Secretary to the Prime Minister, complaining about the draconian cuts, was leaked to the press, possibly with the tacit agreement of some of the ministers. Cameron was said to be furious about the leak and Osborne was incandescent that Fox was going over his head.
Fox at that time was supported by retired and current military chiefs. Now it appears his ministerial team two of whom have military backgrounds, is with him, whereas “a” Conservative MP is quoted as saying that Cameron and Osborne are a different breed of Tory with no connection to
the armed forces.
Of course this is an article in the Mail on Sunday, and as such comes with the health warning “this article may have been written to sensationalise the situation and may have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the truth”. But if it is true, it means either a painful about turn for Osborne, or an embarrassing walk out by the Defence Team. We kind of expected it to be the Unions that were doing the walking out this winter... not ministers.
The trouble, I suppose, is that we are all for the cuts that will affect other people and against the ones that will hurt us. Mr Fox and his team are no different to anyone else in that respect.
It appears that the three Tory ministers, Gerald Howarth, Peter Luff and Andrew Robathan are prepared to walk if Mr Fox doesn’t get his way against George Osborne. (The other ministers in the department are Liberal Nick Harvey and Tory Lord Astor.)
Last month a letter from the Defence Secretary to the Prime Minister, complaining about the draconian cuts, was leaked to the press, possibly with the tacit agreement of some of the ministers. Cameron was said to be furious about the leak and Osborne was incandescent that Fox was going over his head.
Fox at that time was supported by retired and current military chiefs. Now it appears his ministerial team two of whom have military backgrounds, is with him, whereas “a” Conservative MP is quoted as saying that Cameron and Osborne are a different breed of Tory with no connection to
the armed forces.Of course this is an article in the Mail on Sunday, and as such comes with the health warning “this article may have been written to sensationalise the situation and may have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the truth”. But if it is true, it means either a painful about turn for Osborne, or an embarrassing walk out by the Defence Team. We kind of expected it to be the Unions that were doing the walking out this winter... not ministers.
The trouble, I suppose, is that we are all for the cuts that will affect other people and against the ones that will hurt us. Mr Fox and his team are no different to anyone else in that respect.
