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Westminster News from Paul Waugh
The Waugh Room
News, gossip and insight from PoliticsHome Editor Paul Waugh
Friday 21st October 2011 | 09:03
George and Liam break (naan) bread
Liam Fox maybe out of office, but it looks like he's never had so many friends on the Tory benches.
I hear that the former Defence Secretary broke bread, or rather naan bread, on Wednesday night at Number 11 Downing Street. Their tete-a-tete was just hours after Fox's emotional personal statement to the Commons.
George Osborne and Foxy have held regular 'curry club' dinners over the past few years and the Chancellor decided he would continue their tradition of combining hot nosh with serious political chinwaggery.
The fact that Osborne hosted Fox is yet another sign of his strong support for his erstwhile colleague. It follows the vocal backing give to Fox during last Monday's statement, with both Greg Hands and Matthew Hancock leading from the backbenches for their beleagured friend.
Fox was praised within his party for the way he grappled with the MoD's bloated bureaucracy and cut costs and he is now free to focus on domestic matters such as the economy, deficit-cutting and public service reform in general. I suspect he will take a break and keep his powder dry for a while, but he will have plenty to say when he dips his toe back into the political foray.
I can also relate that Fox has had more than 100 written letters of support from fellow Tory MPs. When you add up all the texts he's received, around 150 Tories have been in touch since his departure. That's quite some following. Not for nothing did the PM's PPS Des Swayne give Foxy a big bear hug after his personal statement on Wednesday. Some of his friends still think that he can make a ministerial comeback before the end of the Parliament.
Osborne is clearly aware of the wide support Fox commands on the backbenches - and among ministers - and is alive to the need to keep the Right happy.
Given the rancour over the EU referendum right now, that's not a bad approach...
November 2010
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