How Number 10 will judge Fox

Downing Street is busy stressing that the David Cameron doesn’t want to lose Liam Fox from the Cabinet. There is lots of talk of how the Prime Minister doesn’t want to pull the rug out from under anyone.

I understand that to Number 10’s mind the crucial questions are whether Adam Werritty has made any money out of defence since May 2010 and if so, did Fox know about it? If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then the Defence Secretary is probably done for.

But if it is no then Fox will have suffered some embarrassment but nothing more. Even if it turns out that Werritty has made money from defence – something nobody seems to know at this point – but that Fox was unaware of this, then I expect that the Defence Secretary will pull through.

Today, Fox has to get through both defence questions and a statement in the Commons.