Fox has at least finally acknowledged that it was "a mistake" to allow "distinctions to be blurred" between his professional and private lives. In a formal statement to the House of Commons yesterday, he reiterated his apologies, shouldered full responsibility for the imbroglio, and stressed his willingness to co-operate with official inquiries into the affair. He also stated categorically that Mr Werritty had had no access to confidential material, had played no role in defence procurement, and had seen no commercial or financial benefit from their relationship. It was a typically confident performance, and Mr Fox will hope it draws a line under the whole messy affair. But it should not be allowed to do so. While the Defence Secretary's accounts of the controversial meetings in Dubai and Sri Lanka may be deemed sufficient to exonerate him from allegations of actual wrongdoing, they count for very little against the charge that he has exhibited a spectacular and sustained failure of judgement. Even if the narrowly-drawn internal Whitehall inquiries conclude that he has not broken the ministerial code, Mr Fox's oversights should still cost him his job. The Defence Secretary says that as soon as he realised that his friend was handing out business cards claiming an advisory position that did not officially exist, he asked him to stop. That is all well and good. But Mr Werritty's influence with Mr Fox appears to have been sufficiently convincing to support a reputation among lobbyists as the person to approach to gain