Adam Werritty

Adam Werritty (born 18 July 1978) is a Scottish businessman.

Werritty is a friend of the former UK Secretary of State for Defence and ex Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox.

His friendship with Liam Fox began in the late 1990s, when Fox was an Opposition Front Bench Spokesman on Scotland and Constitutional Affairs and when Werritty was studying public policy at Edinburgh University.

They had a shared interest in politics and the United States.

He lived for a period in 2002 and 2003 at Fox's London flat and was best man at his wedding in 2005.

The two were also business associates who once held joint investments in the healthcare consultancy firm UK Health.

He left Scotland to work for the healthcare company PPP and lived in several places in London and stayed rent-free between 2002 and 2003 in Fox's taxpayer-subsidised flat in Southwark, near Tower Bridge.

Werritty lived in Fox's apartment in Southwark, London, during 2002 and 2003.

The property in which Werrity stayed rent free was mortgaged at £1,400 per month and covered by Fox's Additional Costs Allowance (ACA), part of his MP's expenses.

Werritty was Fox's best man at his wedding in 2005.

Werritty lives in Pimlico near Vauxhall Bridge, close to Parliament.

He is a member of the Carlton Club and the Conservative Party.

Werritty was investigated by senior civil servants led by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell.

In 2007, when Fox was shadow Defence Secretary, they both attended a meeting with the Gulf Research Centre.

Werritty was also appointed by Fox as the chief executive of the now disbanded conservative Atlanticist think-tank, "The Atlantic Bridge".

Werritty made visits to Fox at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Whitehall on 22 occasions in 16 months; Werrity was not security-cleared with the MoD.

In April 2007, Werritty and Fox attended an official meeting with the Gulf Research Centre, an independently run body that conducts research on issues concerning the Middle East.

Werritty was reportedly an adviser of Fox's and is known to have accompanied him on at least 18 foreign business trips between 2009 and 2011.

The two also attended an Israeli security conference centred on relations with Palestine, as well as Iranian sanctions, which took place in Herzliya in 2009.

Fox is a strong supporter of Israel and is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel.

Werritty is listed in conference proceedings as "Dr. Adam Werritty", an adviser to Fox in his role as Shadow Defence Secretary.

In September 2010 the pair were in Washington and met at a defence industry dinner attended by some of the US's leading generals, including General James Mattis, commander of US Central Command.

Additionally, over a 17-month period, ending October 2011, Werritty was present at 40 of Fox's 70 recorded engagements.

The uncertain nature of Werritty's relationship with Fox led to an investigation by senior civil servants, initially the MoD's Permanent Secretary, Ursula Brennan and latterly the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell.

Fox claimed that Werrity had never worked for him either in an official or unofficial capacity despite allegations that he was using a source of advice outside the Civil Service, paid for by private funds.

Disclosure of increasing amounts of detail of their contact, funding and explanations of their relationship led to Fox's resignation on 14 October 2011 in advance of O'Donnell's report of his investigation.

Born in Kirkcaldy, Werrity was raised in St Andrews, Fife, and went to Madras College, where he played rugby in the 1st XV.

He was also the 1st year boys school sports champion.

Werritty went to the University of Edinburgh to study public policy, becoming vice-president of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Students branch.

He graduated with a 2:2 in social policy.

The Prime Minister David Cameron first asked for an interim report of the MoD internal inquiry by 10 October 2011.

The final report was initially due to be submitted on 21 October 2011 but O'Donnell's finding were released earlier than anticipated on 18 October.

Amongst other findings, the report stated that the former defence secretary had blocked civil servants from attending key meetings where Adam Werritty was in attendance and had also failed to tell his permanent secretary that he had solicited funds to bankroll Werritty, he had also ignored private office requests to distance himself from the relationship.

The investigations into Werrity's close ties also revealed that he had visited Fox in the Ministry of Defence Main Building on 22 occasions during a period of 16 months.

In addition, Werrity was present on 18 overseas trips undertaken by Fox in the course of his duties as Secretary of State.

On 10 October 2011 the MoD published a full list of Fox's meetings, from the beginning of his term in office (20 May 2010) to 8 October 2011, and it revealed that Werrity was present at 40 of Fox's 70 engagements in that period.

On 10 October 2011 in a statement to the House of Commons, Liam Fox said that Werritty worked as a paid intern in Fox's parliamentary office when the Conservative Party was in opposition (1997-2010) and at this time had a Parliamentary pass.

Fox said records showed Werritty received a total payment of £5,800 for research work undertaken during that time.

In 2011, Werritty stayed with Fox at a villa in Spain during an August holiday break at the climax of the 2011 Libyan civil war.

Financial backers linked to Israel and a private intelligence firm helped fund Werritty's travels with Fox.