This weekend’s gossip is all about Liam Fox and his ministerial future. Ministers and
journalists are calling each other, weighing the evidence, trying to find out the latest gossip. Nobody should underestimate the Defence Secretary’s fight — he is an alumni of the school of
hard knocks. But two things go against him.
First, having annoyed many colleagues — not least in No 10 — not everyone is rushing to his defence, as they did during the suspicions that dogged William Hague.
No.10 has now given him its “full backing,” but, as history shows, that can mean anything from support to sayonara. David Cameron would prefer not to reshuffle his Cabinet, that’s clear. And although the newspapers will soon begin to list the people who could do — or would want — the MoD job (such as Owen Patterson, Andrew Mitchell, Paddy Ashdown, Francis Maude or Alan Duncan), a move would trigger a larger reshuffle at a bad time.
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