‘Disloyalty is the one thing I don’t forgive’

Liam Fox is not afraid of much. He was defence secretary overseeing the British military intervention in Libya in 2011. He quit the Cabinet after a week of intense pressure over his work with a close friend. He once even walked on the wing of a Tiger Moth plane in midflight, and was not alarmed.

But he makes an exception for spiders. “They’re horrible,” he says. “I don’t mind the little ones, and I’m fine with snakes, but not those big, hairy jungle spiders. Falling into a pit of tarantulas would be my worst nightmare.”

This week, the hackneyed description of Westminster as a “political jungle” suddenly seemed shockingly realistic. Barely seven days after the EU referendum strangled David Cameron’s premiership, Michael Gove sank his teeth into Boris Johnson’s leadership ambitions, killing the former mayor of London’s chances of entering No 10.

Many Tories who backed Brexit and were instinctive fans of Mr Gove have now deserted him in their horror at his venomous strike against a friend who was favourite to be Britain’s next PM.

For Dr Fox, the display of political bloodletting has been astonishing. Mr Johnson, he says, is now seen in Parliament as a victim. “There has been such a lot of ill feeling here – a lot of sympathy for Boris Johnson, it has to be said. A lot of people feel he was badly treated.”

He is not sure how the Gove-Johnson episode will affect the leadership election, in which Dr Fox is one of five candidates. “But at a time when we do need grown-up politics for Brexit, we are being treated to too much of the Oxford Union,” he says. In an interview with The Sunday

Telegraph, the MP for North Somerset details for the first time his blueprint for taking Britain out of the European Union – and his moral vision for transforming the country with a return to traditional values, global trade, and strong defence.

Since he left the Cabinet in 2011 after a row over his friendship with an adviser, Dr Fox has repeatedly been tipped for a political comeback. During the EU referendum campaign, he impressed Mr Cameron’s aides with his self-restraint and honourable conduct. They privately suggested he could be offered a job as part of a reconciliation reshuffle later this year.

But with Mr Cameron’s decision to step down, Dr Fox saw a far bigger job opportunity before him. Now, he insists, it is his time to lead the Conservative Party and the country.

“The referendum changed all the rules. It was an earthquake in our political system,” he says. “We are electing the prime minister who will actually take us out of the European Union. I’ve got a vision for where Britain goes.”

Dr Fox says he has pencilled in January 1 2019 for Britain’s Independence Day – the date when the country will finally be free of Brussels rule. Any later, and the UK would be liable for more costly contributions towards the EU’s budget, he fears.

If he wins the leadership election, a Fox administration will shake up Whitehall, creating a new department for trade and foreign affairs, which will include international aid as well.

Welfare is likely to be in line for cuts in Dr Fox’s budget, if he wins, but defence will receive a big boost as the economy grows in the years ahead.

“We need to spend money on our national security because you need to buy insurance in a dangerous world,” he says. “I would want to see an increase in defence spending as we saw an increase in our economy. For me that would be a priority.

“In particular I would like to see an increase in the size of the Navy and our cyber capability.”

He would appoint a new Cabinetlevel national security adviser, effectively a secretary of state for national security, running a dedicated government department overseeing cyber-security issues. He believes this area is currently a weakness, with

‘Britain has spent too long apologising for its history rather than taking credit for it’

responsibility for tackling cyber threats spread across ministries.

Throughout, a new moral purpose would be brought to government. “We have always had a very clear set of values in our country – democracy, the rule of law, the concept of rights,” he says. “We have exported those values around the world. Sometimes we have spent too much time apologising for our history rather than taking credit for it. I think in an era of globalisation the world is crying out for those values and we ought to be talking that language again.”

Domestically, too, he believes the Government should re-state its moral vision. “We do want to develop a clearer sense of our first principles. Instead of talking about the deficit, we should just be telling people that we should not spend money that we don’t have. You can’t spend today and pass the debts on to the next generation because that’s immoral.

“On welfare, we should be saying we have a moral duty to look after people who cannot look after themselves, but not people who will not look after themselves.”

Policies aside – what personal qualities does a prime minister require? “Courage, resilience, vision. I don’t think anyone would say I’m not resilient. I don’t think anyone would say I wasn’t brave.”

He emphasises his modest, stateschool upbringing and his training to become a doctor. Then there was his resignation from the Government after just over a year in the Cabinet.

“Losing my place in the Government in 2011 was pretty tough,” Dr Fox says. “With any problem you get in your life you can either regard it as a hurdle or an opportunity. I have always taken the view that if you make a mistake, you make an apology and you make amends and learn from it.”

At the time, Dr Fox accepted that he had allowed his personal and professional responsibilities to become “blurred”. His self-styled “adviser” and friend, Adam Werritty, had no official role in government, and no security clearance, but joined Dr Fox on foreign trips and at meetings.

Mr Werritty remains a close personal friend but is not involved in Dr Fox’s leadership bid.

“His wife and my wife are very good friends so we remain close. I think loyalty is a very important thing in life. I am very loyal to other people and expect them to be loyal to me. The greatest disappointment I ever get is people who are disloyal,” he says. “It’s also probably the one thing I don’t forgive.”