vallierojas: Liam Fox resigns

? Defence secretary steps down over links to controversial unofficial adviser Adam Werrity
? How the Guardian broke the story
? Read the news story: Liam Fox resigns

5.09pm: Tory backbencher Bernard Jenkin, a former shadow defence secretary, told the Press Association:

I am very sorry that Liam has felt compelled to resign, but he will know that he is doing the right thing. The main concern must now be to ensure continuity in the MoD, one of the most challenging of departments, at a time when our armed servicemen and women are highly stretched on combat operations.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said:

Dr Fox has bowed to the inevitable. It had become impossible for him to draw a line under the story. These events had undoubtedly begun to affect his authority and the morale of his department.

5.07pm: Fox is unlikely to cause trouble for Cameron on the backbenches, says James Forsyth, the Spectator's political editor:

I suspect that the former defence secretary will not be a problem for Cameron on the backbenches. Fox values loyalty highly and his friends appreciate how the prime minister didn't push Fox at the first opportunity. Also, Fox's standing as a politician has been severely diminished by the events of the past 10 days. If he did want to cause trouble, I doubt that he'd find more than a handful of supporters on the backbenches.

4.58pm: Murphy says David Cameron "probably acted too slowly to get on top of this crisis".

He wants Cameron to "fill this post quickly, to have some clarity ".

4.54pm: Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, is speaking to the BBC. He says ministers have to have standards and Fox fell short of that. He says he "feels sorry for Liam as a person".

Why did Labour not ask for his resignation? Murphy says politicians can be too quick to ask for resignations. He wanted the truth. An investigation "was what Liam was entitled to".

It would appear that the facts have caught up with Liam and he has had to resign.

Politicians shouldn't throw demands for resignation "around like confetti".

Murphy wants "an independent inquiry into this entire business".

How was a government minister able to behave in this way? ... How was that not tracked down by the civil service? Who knew what and when>? ... It's now a question for the wider issues related to the government's behaviour ... Liam's resignation can't lead to the truth being buried.

4.53pm: Fraser Nelson of the Spectator points out how difficult a reshuffle is for a coalition PM: balancing Tories and Lib Dems, as well as the wings of each of those parties. He suggests Philip Hammond, the Tory transport secretary, may replace Fox.

4.50pm: Some more comments from below the line:

chrisbarson:

As a resident of North Somerset, I plead that Dr Fox resigns as our MP. I do not trust him - who would?

SirOrfeo answers the question of who will replace as Fox as defence secretary.

How about Adam Werritty? He's already got the stationery.
In seriousness, I have no idea. Could even see a surprise return by David Laws, although that would probably mean bye-bye to one of the other Libs in the cabinet. Or maybe Chris Grayling? But chances are it'll be a minor reshuffle of the existing faces - someone innocuous like Andrew Mitchell I imagine.

4.49pm: Tory MP Louise Mensch has tweeted her sorrow at Fox's resignation.

Very sorry indeed Liam Fox has resigned. He was an outstanding Secretary of State for Defence and a completely dedicated minister.

4.48pm: Trevor Kavanagh of the Sun says he agrees more with Murphy than Montgomerie. Adam Werrity had posed as an adviser to the defence secretary, "a highly sensitive role", in which many lives are at stake, the former political editor says.

"To have dragged it out this long was an act of vanity by Dr Fox," Kavanagh says.

Werrity "had a role in the life of Dr Fox which was not appropriate for a serving secretary of state", he says.

Werrity's unofficial role was a "deception". "He was simply a pal - that does not work in government."

4.45pm: Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome says David Cameron has handled this very well. There have been times when ministers have been forced out too quickly, and later been found not to have deserved it.

David Cameron has believed that a man is innocent until proven guilty.

He says Fox did the right thing to refer this to civil servants, and then to Gus O'Donnell, the head of the civil service.

"It is very important to state that ? he hasn't been found guilty of anything approaching corruption," Montgomerie says. He pays tribute to Fox for his work as defence secretary, mentioning the few civilian casualties in the Libyan campaign.

He says Fox is now "diminished", but "he may have a big future still to play in the Conservative party".

4.41pm: My colleague Lizzy Davies has been looking at Fox's career.

Fox, appointed as the defence secretary by David Cameron last May, never had the typical background of a rightwing Tory, but his popularity on the right has continued to grow since his entrance into national politics in 1992.
Strongly Eurosceptic, with hardline anti-abortion views and hawkish foreign policy, he established himself as a truculent minister who was not afraid to make clear his opposition to coalition policies and Cameron's "compassionate conservatism".
Brought up on a council estate in East Kilbride, Fox attended a local comprehensive school before heading to Glasgow University to study medicine.
Canny and convincing, he climbed the ranks of the Tory party, becoming a senior government whip during John Major's time in Downing Street and, as a Foreign Office minister, brokering the so-called Fox peace plan for Sri Lanka ? a 1996 accord aimed at bringing about an end to that country's vicious conflict.
His interest in Sri Lanka continued throughout his career, as was made clear when it emerged on Sunday that his former flatmate Adam Werritty had attended a meeting between Fox and the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Following Labour's victory in 1997, Fox occupied various roles in the shadow cabinet, with portfolios including health and, finally, defence. Following the defeat of Michael Howard's Conservatives at the 2005 general election, he staged a bid for the leadership, positioning himself as a champion of social conservatism. Fox came third, his 51 votes not far behind David Davis's 57 but dwarfed by Cameron's 90.
As soon as he was able to form a government, Cameron brought his erstwhile foe into his cabinet and gave him one of the most high-profile jobs going. If the prime minister had hoped to soothe old tensions, however, he failed ? at least partially.
Although a firm partner on Libya who overcame initial reservations to help co-ordinate the conflict, Fox was not one to toe the line. On two occasions, the Scot wrote letters ? subsequently leaked to the media ? expressing grave doubt about government policies. The first warned of the "damage to morale" that could result from cuts in the defence budget, and the second opposed a significant increase in Britain's foreign aid spending.
Both moves bolstered his support among rightwing Tories, already feeling cold-shouldered in the coalition with the Liberal Democrats. But they did nothing to endear him to No 10 ? something on which Fox now has plenty of time to reflect.

4.37pm: Below the line, Hallasan comments:

Apparently he resigned last week but gave the letter to Letwin to pass on to Cameron ...

4.35pm: Jim Murphy, Fox's Labour shadow, has put out a statement calling the defence secretary's resignation "unavoidable and inevitable".

Throughout these events I haven't called for Liam Fox's resignation but just the full truth.

Governments must have rules and ministers must have standards, Liam Fox fell foul of the standards and he broke the rules. It was clear early on that he had breached the ministerial code.

This issue has centred solely on his judgment and his conduct in one of the most serious jobs in the country. With so much at stake for our forces the defence secretary must be focused solely on his public duties.

The government has shown how out of touch it is by spending the whole of the last week worrying about how to save Liam Fox's job. That time should have been better spent trying to save the jobs of tens of thousands of hardworking people.

4.32pm: Here is the full text of David Cameron's letter to Liam Fox. Like Fox, Cameron (left) focuses on his work as defence secretary, especially in Libya and in reforming the finances of the Ministry of Defence.

Dear Liam,
Thank you for your letter.
I understand your reasons for deciding to resign as defence secretary, although I am very sorry to see you go.
We have worked closely for these last six years, and you have been a key member of my team throughout that time.
You have done a superb job in the 17 months since the election, and as shadow defence secretary before that.
You have overseen fundamental changes in the Ministry of Defence and in our armed forces, which will ensure that they are fully equipped to meet the challenges of the modern era.
On Libya, you played a key role in the campaign to stop people being massacred by the Gaddafi regime and instead win their freedom.
You can be proud of the difference you have made in your time in office, and in helping our party to return to government.
I appreciate your commitment to the work of this government, particularly highlighting the need to tackle the deficit, and the relationship between Britain's economic strength and our national security.
You and Jesme have always been good friends, and I have truly valued your support over the years. I will continue to do so in the future.
Yours ever,
David.

Jesme is Fox's wife, Jesme Baird.

4.23pm: The resignation letter goes into very little detail about his links with Adam Werrity or the allegation that he was in effect running a shadow foreign policy regarding Sri Lanka. He says only that he "mistakenly" allowed the distinction between "my personal interest and my government activities" to become blurred, and that the "consequences" of this have become clearer.

David Cameron has said he is very sorry Fox has resigned but "I understand your reasons".

Fox's was a tricky case to handle for Cameron. The prime minister will not have wanted to alienate his own right wing by being seen to abandon one of their most high-profile standard bearers. Fox was a leadership rival of Cameron's in 2005 and may have seen himself as a replacement for Cameron one day. In that sense he may be more dangerous for Cameron on the backbenches, where he may become a focus for internal Tory opposition to the prime minister.

My colleague Allegra Stratton has written about Fox's resignation here. She points out that Fox is the first Tory to be forced out of the coalition, and the resignation will trigger the prime minister's first reshuffle, "an operation he had wanted to hold out doing until half way through the parliament". It is expected Cameron will perform a limited reshuffle, Allegra writes, merely replacing Fox without going reorganising his entire government line-up.

Fox is said to have crumpled under the weight of this week's revelations and the prospect of another weekend of speculation He could not hold out until the inquiry into his behaviour wound up officially ? expected to be at some point next week. The prime minister had always held out the right to exercise his own judgment and keep Fox in his post even if O'Donnell's report had been critical, but the defence secretary decided to short-circuit the process and limit the personal and political damage.
It is understood that Werritty's appearance before Sir Gus O'Donnell ? the man performing the inquiry to establish the propriety of his work ? did not impress the cabinet secretary.

4.21pm: Here is Liam Fox's letter of resignation to the prime minister in full:

Dear David,
As you know, I have always placed a great deal of importance on accountability and responsibility. As I said in the House of Commons on Monday, I mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred. The consequences of this have become clearer in recent days. I am very sorry for this.
I have also repeatedly said that the national interest must always come before personal interest. I now have to hold myself to my own standard. I have therefore decided, with great sadness, to resign from my post as secretary of state for defence ? a position which I have been immensely proud and honoured to have held.
I am particularly proud to have overseen the long overdue reforms to the Ministry of Defence and to our armed forces, which will shape them to meet the challenges of the future and keep this country safe.
I am proud also to have played a part in helping to liberate the people of Libya, and I regret that I will not see through to its conclusion Britain's role in Afghanistan, where so much progress has been made.
Above all, I am honoured and humbled to have worked with the superb men and women in our armed forces. Their bravery, dedication and professionalism are second to none.
I appreciate all the support you have given me ? and will continue to support the vital work of this government, above all in controlling the enormous budget deficit we inherited, which is a threat not just to this country's economic prosperity but also to its national security.
I look forward to continuing to represent my constituents in North Somerset.
Yours ever,
Liam

4.19pm: Tory MP Peter Bone says "it's typical of Liam to put the country first" in resigning. "I think it was largely a media-driven [story]. I didn't see the hanging offence, I'm afraid," says Bone.

Here is a bit more detail from Fox's statement:

I mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred.
The consequences of this have become clearer in recent days and I'm sorry for this.

4.14pm: This is the second forced resignation since the coalition was formed. The first was the Lib Dem David Laws, who stepped down soon after becoming chief secretary to the Treasury over his expenses.

You can see all of the Guardian's coverage of the Liam Fox story since June here.

4.12pm: The defence secretary, Liam Fox, has resigned after increasing pressure over his links to his unofficial adviser and best man, Adam Werrity. His office has just confirmed the news.

In his resignation statement, Fox said he "mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred".

4.10pm: The defence secretary, Liam Fox, has resigned.

More details soon ...