Posts Tagged ‘Profumo affair’

Is the Liam Fox affair a repeat of the Profumo affair?

October 13, 2011
Christine Keeler in 1963

Christine Keeler in 1963: Image via Wikipedia

The UK press and blogs are full of the Liam Fox / Adam Werrity affair. The main stream media only write in euphemisms about the relationship between Fox and Werrity. The blogs of course are much more forthright in their suggestion that Fox is gay and Werrity his long time boy-friend. The constant reference to Werrity being Fox’s best man at his wedding is – I suppose – meant to imply that his marriage was a subterfuge to mask his being gay. Some examples of the articles in the media and the blogosphere: The TelegraphThe StudentRoom blogOrder-order.com blogThe SpectatorPressTV, Daily Mail

From Wikipedia:

The Profumo Affair was a 1963 British political scandal named after John Profumo, Secretary of State for War. His affair with Christine Keeler, the reputed mistress of an alleged Russian spy, followed by lying in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it, forced the resignation of Profumo and damaged the reputation of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s government. Macmillan himself resigned a few months later due to ill health.

For the historical comparison to hold:

  1. Adam Werrity would need to be the Minister’s lover (and the UK press always carefully refers to him as “his friend of 18 years and his best man”),
  2. Werrity would need to be in the pay of a “foreign power”. It seems apparent that Werrity has been financed by a number of conservative US lobby groups and some suggestion of Israeli and even Iranian lobby groups.
  3.  Werrity’s objectives would have to have been to influence Fox or to extract sensitive information (with or without Fox’s knowledge) for his paymasters.
By all accounts this could well be a case of history repeating itself.