Is this guy subtly sticking the knife in?
Either way, it sounds like he's finished to me, at least for now. Maybe he'll pop up again later on but there is too much of a kerfuffle for him to stick around at the moment, IMO.
Employment Minister Chris Grayling acknowledged that "the gossip is certainly circulating" but stressed that Mr Fox and his wife had always appeared to him "a very happily married couple".
Asked about rumours that the defence secretary is gay - described by Mr Fox himself as "smears" in a 2005 interview - Mr Grayling said: "If you look around the Westminster village you will find all kinds of wild gossip about all kinds of individuals in all parties. That doesn't mean they are not good at their jobs.
"I've known Liam for many years, I've known Liam and his wife, they've always struck me as being a very happily married couple. The reality is that the gossip is certainly circulating.
"I thought we had got past the point in politics though where we needed to worry about people's private lives. The question is, is somebody doing an important and capable job."
He added: "I've not seen anything emerge in any of this that would give me rise to believe that Liam has done anything substantially wrong or would call his position into question."
Asked about rumours that the defence secretary is gay - described by Mr Fox himself as "smears" in a 2005 interview - Mr Grayling said: "If you look around the Westminster village you will find all kinds of wild gossip about all kinds of individuals in all parties. That doesn't mean they are not good at their jobs.
"I've known Liam for many years, I've known Liam and his wife, they've always struck me as being a very happily married couple. The reality is that the gossip is certainly circulating.
"I thought we had got past the point in politics though where we needed to worry about people's private lives. The question is, is somebody doing an important and capable job."
He added: "I've not seen anything emerge in any of this that would give me rise to believe that Liam has done anything substantially wrong or would call his position into question."
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