Tory Minister Liam Fox has issued an apology over his relationship with Adam Werritty and admitted he made a mistake.
The Scottish MP has said he is sorry after media reports claimed that his former flatmate and long-time friend Adam Werritty attended official meetings with the Defence Secretary despite not having national security clearance or being employed by the MOD.
Mr Fox said it was “a mistake to allow distinctions to be blurred between my professional responsibilities and my personal loyalties to a friend”.
It is understood that UK Prime Minister David Cameron has demanded a report be on his desk by Monday. Mr Fox, who has just returned from a trip to Libya, is facing an MoD inquiry into his working relationship with Mr Werritty.
Mr Fox added: “I have apologised to the prime minister and agreed with my permanent secretary to put in place new procedures to ensure that this does not happen again.”
A video and emails have emerged that call into question earlier answers given by Mr Fox over the attendance of Mr Werritty at meetings.
In his statement, Mr Fox said: “At no stage did I or my department provide classified information or briefings to Mr Werritty or assist with his commercial work – let alone benefit personally from this work.
“Nevertheless, I do accept that given Mr Werritty’s defence-related business interests, my frequent contacts with him may have given an impression of wrongdoing, and may also have given third parties the misleading impression that Mr Werritty was an official adviser rather than simply a friend.
“I have learned lessons from this experience.”
