Apparently Liam Fox claimed last night that “he was “appalled” his letter had been handed to the press and would “stop at nothing to ensure that the culprit is found”.” His outbox should be the first place to look.

The benefits of having this debate in public are clear – Fox feels he can win over support with the inflammatory language being chewed over by columnists and pundits. Downing Street are briefing that they are relaxed, but the story couldn’t have come at a more unfortunate moment. Today’s papers should have been dominated by the Mili-Geek Tragedy but thanks to loose lips, Fox has managed to split the coverage conveniently ahead of the Tory party conference next week. Guido can’t imagine the Downing Street press office was a fun place to be in the last twelve hours…

UPDATE: Dale reports that Fox just refused to deny he would resign. Get over to Political Smarkets if you think he will be the next cabinet minister to go. Fox is now favourite.