Liam Fox calls off Sri Lanka visit

Liam Fox has at the last minute cancelled his trip to Sri Lanka. There was widespread anger outside government that the defence secretary was in danger of giving comfort to the Sri Lankan regime when it was flouting UN demands for an independent investigation into alleged war crimes.

It would appear Number 10 didn’t get too involved in the attempt to dissuade Liam Fox from yet again dabbling in Sri Lanka. They relied instead on William Hague, an old friend of Dr Fox’s, to apply the pressure.

Here’s the statement from Dr Fox –
“Dr Fox has postponed his private visit to Sri Lanka due to an extension to his scheduled official visit to the Gulf. He intends to carry out an official visit to Sri Lanka next year during which he proposes to fulfil the speaking engagement that he had planned.”

I get the impression that this decision was made in something like the last hour. The deal brokered with the FCO appears to be that Dr Fox doesn’t lose too much face as he’ll get to make an official trip early in the new year. There will be, how can we put this, widespread scepticism that a last minute change to a Gulf visit is what changed things.

Dr Fox had explained that he was going to pay for the plane ticket out of his own money so keep your eyes on eBay for a tempting winter break giveaway.