:00:41. > :00:45.And in the west: We're live in Wootton Bassett today as Princess
:00:45. > :00:49.Anne bestows the title 'Royal' on that stoical town.
:00:49. > :00:52.Plus, can Dr Fox make a come back? I will be talking to one of his
:00:52. > :01:02.close political friends in Somerset. All that's to come, live later in
:01:02. > :01:02.
:01:02. > :25:52.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1489 seconds
:25:52. > :25:55.Hello. You join us here in the west country on the day that Wootton
:25:55. > :25:57.Bassett gets an honour and on a weekend when the former Defence
:25:57. > :26:01.Secretary, Liam Fox, sees his political career badly wounded. Who
:26:01. > :26:03.says you need mates in Politics? Liam Fox found himself hounded out
:26:03. > :26:08.of office because of his relationship with this man, Adam
:26:08. > :26:17.Werrity. Parliamentary colleagues say he was right to stand down, but
:26:17. > :26:22.that he can make a come back. We're talking to Dr Fox's other friends.
:26:22. > :26:27.He is a charming man. He is somebody who worked hard all of his
:26:27. > :26:33.career regardless of being a backbencher. He made a mistake, but
:26:33. > :26:36.as far as we know he did not break any rules or laws so therefore, why
:26:36. > :26:45.not? And live today in the town that stood for almost everybody.
:26:45. > :26:48.Wootton Bassett becomes "royal" in Welcome along this Sunday morning.
:26:48. > :26:52.The papers are pretty torrid today about one of the west country's
:26:52. > :26:54.most prominent MPs, Dr Liam Fox. A former GP, his bedside manner made
:26:54. > :27:00.him a favourite with many Conservative ladies of a certain
:27:00. > :27:03.age, but will his undoubted charm keep him in politics? The Mail on
:27:03. > :27:10.Sunday explores the relationship between Dr Fox and his friend Adam
:27:10. > :27:19.Werrity. It says they had "his and his" suits made by the same tailor
:27:19. > :27:23.in Hong Kong. Then the Sunday Telegraph: "Donors fury over lies."
:27:23. > :27:26.The paper says Mr Fox faces a possible police investigation. And
:27:26. > :27:29.the Observer: "Fox scandal lifts lid on lobby links."We'll be
:27:29. > :27:39.discussing what all this means for Dr Fox and his local constituents,
:27:39. > :27:43.
:27:43. > :27:49.but first Paul Barltrop has this report. We are talking in the
:27:49. > :27:53.south-west about job losses. The highs and lows of a big player
:27:53. > :27:57.in British politics and the West's most successful MP. He was helped
:27:57. > :28:07.by having a fairly safe seat, with North Somerset voters giving him an
:28:07. > :28:07.
:28:07. > :28:11.8,000 majority last year. And of course thank you to my fabulous
:28:11. > :28:14.team, especially the battle bus watching was the man who was to
:28:14. > :28:17.prove his undoing. Adam Werritty has been a close friend for more
:28:17. > :28:24.than a decade. Many of the local Conservatives in the hall that
:28:24. > :28:27.night knew him. I recognised him because we met them on the way in.
:28:27. > :28:29.Councillors Nigel Ashton and Felicity Baker last month attended
:28:29. > :28:37.Liam Fox's 50th birthday celebrations in London. The MP has
:28:37. > :28:43.loyal friends. No-one would have thought to delve deeper. I have
:28:43. > :28:49.known Liam Fox for about 20 years. Obviously a high-flyer, very
:28:49. > :28:53.successful national politician and a successful local MP. I have only
:28:53. > :28:58.known a dumb for probably three or four years, but he has been one of
:28:58. > :29:01.a number of people that Liam has around him. I have never had any
:29:01. > :29:04.reason to query that. Fox is the coalition's first big and
:29:04. > :29:07.controversial departure. Day after day the Prime Minister resisted
:29:07. > :29:10.pressure to push him out. It's quite a contrast to the last Labour
:29:10. > :29:19.government. Professor Mark Wickham Jones has chronicled the way
:29:19. > :29:25.ministers were despatched in the Blair-Brown era. Labour took a
:29:25. > :29:30.rather more clinical, brutal view of how to deal with the situations.
:29:30. > :29:34.When a minister ran into trouble, rightly or wrongly, Labour would
:29:34. > :29:38.tend to resolve that issue very quickly. That nearly always meant
:29:38. > :29:41.that the minister in question would stand down from the government.
:29:41. > :29:48.the event it was the continuing media pressure that brought about
:29:48. > :29:54.the resignation. A week and a half after it hit the headlines, Liam
:29:54. > :29:58.Fox is still the subject of media attention. He is keeping a low
:29:59. > :30:04.profile this weekend to be in his local constituency. When all the
:30:04. > :30:06.camera crews have gone, at the question will remain. Cannot Liam
:30:06. > :30:12.Fox bounce back? Local conservatives certainly hope so.
:30:12. > :30:18.Over two decades he's earnt their respect and admiration. He will be
:30:18. > :30:22.wasted on the backbenches. I can't imagine he will stay there, but
:30:22. > :30:25.nevertheless, as a constituency MP, he is an excellent man and we
:30:25. > :30:30.really want to keep him. So too some of his parliamentary
:30:30. > :30:37.colleagues and neighbours who've watched him rise through the ranks.
:30:37. > :30:44.Liam is a brilliant local MP. He is a charming man. He has worked hard
:30:44. > :30:51.all of his career. Yes, I think he can. He made a mistake, but he did
:30:51. > :30:53.not, as far as we know, break any rules or laws so why not. On that,
:30:53. > :30:57.the final verdict is still awaited. The investigation by the cabinet
:30:57. > :31:02.secretary into Liam Fox and his best man was meant to decide if he
:31:02. > :31:05.could stay in government. It'll now determine if he can ever come back.
:31:05. > :31:08.Well let's cross live to Wootton Basset where they are preparing for
:31:08. > :31:16.that royal visit this afternoon. The local MP James Gray is there
:31:16. > :31:23.and he joins me now. Well come along to the Politics
:31:24. > :31:28.Show. What, in your opinion, has Dr Fox done wrong? I know absolutely
:31:28. > :31:34.nothing about that at all, nor does anybody. The press say they do, but
:31:34. > :31:39.do not. We are all looking forward to the Cabinet Secretary who is rip
:31:39. > :31:45.porting on the whole thing, after all that comes out, we will know
:31:45. > :31:50.what Liam and Adam did and what process may then follow. Right now
:31:50. > :31:55.nobody knows anything. I am afraid to say I know nothing about Adam
:31:55. > :32:03.Werrity. Was he right to go? Considering lots of people seem
:32:03. > :32:06.vague about what he has done wrong. An enormous amount of pressure on
:32:06. > :32:12.him and on the government and presumably he must know himself
:32:12. > :32:18.that it was the right thing to do. He said openly that he blurred the
:32:18. > :32:23.lines between his private life and his political life. I personally
:32:23. > :32:27.know nothing about that, but he presumably does. Liam has been a
:32:27. > :32:32.first class Defence Secretary. We here at Wootton Bassett a great
:32:32. > :32:36.ball to him because he played a large part in saving Lynam which is
:32:36. > :32:40.terribly important for the local economy. He has been a very good
:32:40. > :32:44.local MP in Somerset everything I know has been his first class, but
:32:44. > :32:49.it sounds as though he got something wrong in some areas of
:32:49. > :32:53.his private life. Do you think you will want to remain as a local MP?
:32:53. > :32:58.I very much hope that he does. I know that his constituents think
:32:58. > :33:02.highly of him. As a backbencher, I would say that is an honourable
:33:02. > :33:09.profession. There is more to Parliament then being a minister so
:33:09. > :33:13.I am sure he will make a useful contribution. He is a bit of a
:33:13. > :33:16.standard bearer for the true Conservatives, the right-wing
:33:16. > :33:21.Conservatives so I know he will be doing good things from the back
:33:21. > :33:26.benches in years to come. While you are at Wootton Bassett, what is it
:33:26. > :33:31.like there this morning? Excitement? It is a fantastic
:33:32. > :33:38.atmosphere all around. Bells are ringing, soldiers are coming and
:33:38. > :33:44.going. There is a wonderful church service. I was at the Conservative
:33:44. > :33:47.Club listening to poems about the war. It will be a fantastic day.
:33:47. > :33:52.The Prime Minister and the new Defence Secretary will be here
:33:52. > :33:56.later as well as the Princess Royal herself. It will be a fantastic day.
:33:56. > :34:00.The atmosphere on the High Street is electric. Thank you very much
:34:00. > :34:10.for joining us this morning. Anita Heappey is Chair of the North
:34:10. > :34:10.
:34:10. > :34:18.Somerset Conservative Party and friend of Dr Fox. Why are you
:34:18. > :34:22.shocked? That he resigned? About the whole thing. Yes, very shocked.
:34:22. > :34:28.I have to think back to only a few weeks ago when it was his birthday
:34:28. > :34:35.party and everything was a fantastic. I understand he is home
:34:35. > :34:40.today, how do you think he will be feeling? I am not very good at
:34:40. > :34:45.supposing what other people think. I would think he would be very
:34:45. > :34:53.tired, I would imagine, because of the stress and strain of the last
:34:53. > :34:59.10 days. And probably thinking, you know, what do we do now? And
:34:59. > :35:08.thinking about life on the backbenches, yes. Is the game up? I
:35:08. > :35:13.hope not. Why? Because Liam is an excellent constituency MP. I have
:35:13. > :35:15.worked in various constituencies and I suppose I come from any
:35:15. > :35:22.indoctrinated Conservative background and their MPs I have
:35:22. > :35:26.worked for before have been Cabinet ministers. One is now in the Lords
:35:26. > :35:31.and one is the current Cabinet and they were never around the way that
:35:31. > :35:35.Liam is. Liam does not just parachute into do events, he is
:35:35. > :35:41.here that the whole of the constituency. He lives in the
:35:41. > :35:47.constituency, he goes to the pub, he turned up at the Cider Festival
:35:47. > :35:55.in July it. Liam is he as a person, he is not just, I will come down to
:35:55. > :36:02.the constituency, to my surgery and go back to London. Did he have Adam
:36:02. > :36:07.Werrity in tow? No. I have only seen at them in the constituency
:36:07. > :36:14.once when there was a party after Liam got married as a thank you to
:36:14. > :36:21.everybody and, I think he was here on election night. That is it.
:36:21. > :36:25.what was his role? Have you been able to find out? No. As far as the
:36:25. > :36:31.constituency is concerned, he did not have a role. We see politicians
:36:31. > :36:36.here every week and most of them have an entourage of some sort.
:36:36. > :36:41.have seen Adam at conference. Another and that, it was just when
:36:41. > :36:47.he came to the wedding. We do not know what will come out, if
:36:47. > :36:53.anything. Do you think he is safe as an MP, even? I hope so. That is
:36:53. > :36:58.all I can really say on that. I, like everyone else, is waiting for
:36:58. > :37:03.the report to come out. I wish everybody else had turned, that we
:37:03. > :37:10.had not had all of this pre-trial when there is a formal process
:37:10. > :37:18.going through. Sir I am waiting for the report. Do you think he is --
:37:18. > :37:22.de you think his behaviour was appropriate as a defence secretary?
:37:22. > :37:29.He should have been more careful who his friends were. He has
:37:29. > :37:34.admitted himself that he has made mistakes. I think, you know, if you
:37:35. > :37:41.can admitted yourself, then that is the first thing. Thank you very
:37:41. > :37:46.much for joining us. Well, now back to Wootton Bassett
:37:46. > :37:49.and a special day for that stoical town. It's to become the first in
:37:49. > :37:52.more than a hundred years to have the title "royal" bestowed on it.
:37:52. > :37:56.Wootton Bassett stood shoulder to shoulder with the families of
:37:56. > :37:59.fallen servicemen and women. It's a town that always kept politics out
:37:59. > :38:05.of its affairs, but there will be some prominent figures there today
:38:05. > :38:14.including the new Defence Secretary Philip Hammond. John Maguire is in
:38:14. > :38:17.Wootton now. Good morning. It will be a warm
:38:17. > :38:23.welcome for Philip Hammond because there is an incredible atmosphere
:38:23. > :38:26.here today. We have both reported from this town many times, each
:38:27. > :38:30.repatriation had an individual characteristic of its own partly
:38:30. > :38:34.because of the tone set by the family is all certain regiments
:38:34. > :38:40.that soldiers came from, but this is very much about townsfolk today.
:38:40. > :38:45.This is what it is all about. Those are the new signs that are going up
:38:46. > :38:50.just outside. I want to take you over to meet Chris, the former
:38:51. > :38:58.mayor of the tongue. He is always very busily talking to people,
:38:58. > :39:04.Chris, hello. Another momentous day for Wootton Bassett. Some it out
:39:04. > :39:10.for us today. I think it is a mixture of sadness and also a
:39:10. > :39:15.mixture of happiness. It is very difficult to explain. We lost
:39:15. > :39:22.another by a in Helmand province yesterday and we feel dreadfully
:39:22. > :39:27.sorry for his family and we will be remembering his family today. But,
:39:27. > :39:32.also the honour of having Royle bestowed on our town. The first
:39:32. > :39:36.round for 102 years. I think there is a great deal of pride in that.
:39:36. > :39:41.Some people say it derived out of sadness, but I would like to put it
:39:41. > :39:47.a different way. Our town has been awarded this by a lot of people in
:39:47. > :39:53.the country and abroad, as well. Thousands of people wanted us to
:39:53. > :39:57.have this. We did not ask for it, we said we did not want it.
:39:57. > :40:02.remember talking to year about the year ago and you said you did not
:40:02. > :40:07.want it. We said we did not want it. We can't ask for anything, but if
:40:07. > :40:13.this is what the people want us to have then we have to be gracious
:40:13. > :40:18.about accepting it. I am very proud personally. I think it is a great
:40:18. > :40:23.honour to the town and, when you look at what the town has done, I
:40:23. > :40:29.suppose you could say very well earned. We have shown dignity,
:40:29. > :40:34.respect and compassion and I think they are three very British values
:40:35. > :40:39.and ones we should treasure. This town has great community spirit. It
:40:39. > :40:44.is what a town should be. We should be helping each other and our
:40:44. > :40:50.fellow man. Congratulations tea and everyone in the town. You have put
:40:50. > :40:55.Wootton Bassett on the map around the world. Enjoy today. The Prince
:40:55. > :40:59.has hit a Royal will be here. Take a look at the scene behind me. All
:40:59. > :41:03.sorts of people. This is what it has always been like at Wootton
:41:03. > :41:08.Bassett throughout the ceremony is that have been here over the last
:41:08. > :41:16.couple of years. The Royal Legion bikers there. Then there being
:41:16. > :41:21.interviewed by BBC News, members of the public. Everyone I speak to
:41:21. > :41:27.have their own motivation. Many veterans who are allied to certain
:41:27. > :41:32.regiments and squadrons. We will see the Royal British Legion he
:41:32. > :41:37.again, the standard bearers. They stands so straight and upright. A
:41:37. > :41:44.dog getting in on the act. Interesting and I think it is worth
:41:44. > :41:48.leaving you with love. That, despite the fact that you like
:41:48. > :41:53.Wootton Bassett, the baton has been handed over and they will carry on
:41:53. > :41:57.the solemn process of welcoming back our fallen soldiers serving
:41:57. > :42:00.overseas. Thank you very much. Great that it
:42:00. > :42:06.is a lovely day. The Defence expert Air Vice
:42:07. > :42:12.Marshall Tony Mason, who lives in Gloucestershire, joins us now.
:42:12. > :42:17.What has Wootton Bassett win for you in the military? I think it
:42:17. > :42:22.marks the enormous sacrifice that the armed forces have made, but it
:42:22. > :42:27.has given an imbalance picture, hasn't it? What it has shown us is
:42:27. > :42:31.the cost and the sacrifice, but what it has not shown us is a
:42:31. > :42:36.success and achievements of the armed forces over 10 years. It has
:42:36. > :42:42.been a huge effort by the armed forces at a considerable cost. You
:42:42. > :42:47.talk about successes, have there been many? OK, if we recall 10
:42:48. > :42:53.years ago, Afghanistan was an international event and training
:42:53. > :42:59.sanctuary for Al-Qaeda. That has gone. Al-Qaeda has been dissipated,
:42:59. > :43:07.leadership taken out and we do now have the traditional insurgency.
:43:07. > :43:11.One of the reasons that I respect this last 10 years of the armed
:43:11. > :43:16.forces is the circumstances they have been fighting in. It has been
:43:16. > :43:19.an insurgency which is difficult. I know that country and it is a
:43:20. > :43:24.difficult country. And there is another factor which you and I are
:43:24. > :43:31.both aware of and that is the country has never really been
:43:31. > :43:34.wholeheartedly in support of the policy. Always supporting the trips,
:43:34. > :43:42.and they have known that and still done their job and we reach the
:43:42. > :43:47.stage after 10 years where there is an opportunity, an opportunity now
:43:47. > :43:52.for greater stability in the country. We are leaving in 2014,
:43:52. > :43:58.come what may say it could slide back. It could very well slide back.
:43:58. > :44:05.But what we have done, hopefully is bring breathing space. What we have
:44:05. > :44:08.never had his political control. The military has been our
:44:08. > :44:14.responsibility and NATO's and foreign responsibility, but in the
:44:14. > :44:20.last resort it has to be an Afghan solution. Let's talk about defence
:44:20. > :44:22.secretaries. If you were in the Ministry of Defence in your days as
:44:22. > :44:28.Vice-Marshal and the Defence Secretary tender with a friend,
:44:29. > :44:34.what we do think? It happened. Look back at Margaret Thatcher when
:44:34. > :44:38.David Hart makes Adam Werrity look like an angel of mercy. Oh yes, it
:44:38. > :44:45.has happened before, but it did not help and it has not helped as far
:44:45. > :44:50.as we can see. I am not personally aware of the ripples in MoD, but as
:44:50. > :44:54.you say I can project myself back and if I thought my advice has been
:44:54. > :45:01.countered by somebody or influence coming in from other sources
:45:01. > :45:08.through a back door, then I would not be a happy bunny. So did you
:45:08. > :45:14.think he had to go? I was uncertain. Like any to, I did not know what
:45:14. > :45:19.had happened. What worried me about it was the evasiveness. First there
:45:19. > :45:25.was one answer, then there was something else, then another. What
:45:25. > :45:29.we need above all is stability in that position. Thank you very much
:45:29. > :45:32.for coming in this Sunday morning. And that's it from the west this
:45:32. > :45:35.week. The Politics Show continues with Jon Sopel in London. If you