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Liam Fox

Credentials

Medicine, University of Glasgow. [1]

Background

Liam Fox is the Secretary of State for International Trade and Conservative MP for North Somerset. [2]

A Brexit supporter coming from the right wing of the Conservative Party, Fox was appointed to his current cabinet role in July 2016 after the UK’s vote to leave the EU, returning to government after a six-year gap. [3], [2]

Fox helped launch the Grassroots Out campaign at the start of 2016 and is believed to have been a member of the hard-line anti-EU European Research Group chaired by Jacob Rees-Mogg within the Conservative Party. [4], [5]

Between 1997 and 2011, Fox founded and chaired the controversial Atlantic Bridge thinktank. The group had close ties to the Koch brothers-backed American Tea Party movement before it was forced to dissolve in October 2011 following criticisms from a 2007 Charity Commission investigation. That investigation found the group appeared to primarily exist to promote policy positions that mirrored those of the Conservative Party. [6], [7], [8]

Atlantic Bridge had also signed a partnership with the D.C.-based lobby group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), funded by fossil fuel and tobacco companies and known for pushing bills across the United States which undermine environmental laws. [9], [10]

Since the EU referendum, Fox has sought to secure trade deals with other countries as the UK begins the process of leaving the European Union. A US-UK trade deal is top of the agenda, which has seen Fox hold meetings with Washington D.C.-based think tank the Heritage Foundation, known for supporting climate science denial and being highly influential in shaping the new Trump administration. Fox has a long-held relationship with the foundation from his work at the Atlantic Bridge, and Fox’s former special adviser at the Ministry of Defence, Luke Coffey, now works at the Heritage Foundation. [11], [10],[12]

Fox was forced to resign in 2011 from his position as Defence Secretary after revelations that he had allowed his friend and lobbyist Adam Werritty attend meetings at the Ministry of Defence without the necessary security clearance. As an unofficial, undeclared adviser, Werritty also joined Fox for meetings with foreign dignitaries. [13]

Stance on Climate Change

February 27, 2019

As reported by Energy Live News, Fox made the following statement while speaking at the oil and gas leaders at the International Petroleum Week: [14]

“In climate change as in all things, we must never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We must focus on a low carbon future but the simple fact is that for the moment, we do require fossil fuels to deliver secure and affordable energy.

“That need for oil and gas is especially pressing for countries in the third world, who need affordable energy to grow their economies to a level we take for granted.

“Our commitment to work with the oil and gas industry to deliver an affordable, secure, cleaner future is something you can rely on. And our commitment to tackle climate change is something you can rely upon: a fixed point on the firmament for any investor.” [14]

He said the government “will not use Brexit as a means or an excuse” to lower environmental standards” and called climate change “undoubtedly one of the most pressing challenges” beyond Brexit. He added: [14]

“The UK is legally committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% between 1990 and 2050. This is a commitment that is part of our domestic law through the Climate Change Act, not EU law.

“Our environmental standards are already above the EU minimum. If this government had wanted to use Brexit to reduce environmental standards, we would have reduced them already.

“The United Kingdom’s comparative advantage is in quality, not price and that includes high environmental standards.” [14]

Voting Record

Fox’s voting record suggests climate change is not a priority issue for him, having mostly voted against measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions over the years. [15]

Two of Fox’s five-member expert committee, formed in October 2017, are prominent figures in the UK climate science denial movement. Lord Peter Lilley was one of five MPs to vote against the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act, and both he and Dr Ruth Lea sit on the Board of Trustees of the climate sceptic Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). [16]

Michael Hintze, a key funder of the GWPF, was also the main sponsor of Fox’s Atlantic Bridge. [17]

On Fracking

In an undated statement expressing his views on fracking—nearly identical to statements by some other MPs—Fox wrote: [18], [19]

“Of course, none of this diminishes in any way our need to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. Apart from the well documented changes in global climate, we should be better shepherds of the finite global sources we possess. We are not the owners of our planet, merely its temporary guardians.” [18]

Key Quotes

February 27, 2019

In a speech Fox delivered at the International Petroleum Week conference in London, he assured the oil and gas industry it could rely on the UK government’s continued support: [20]

“In Climate Change as in all things, we must never let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

“We must focus on a low-carbon future but the simple fact is that for the moment we do require fossil fuels to deliver secure and affordable energy.” [20]

June 18, 2017

In an article Fox wrote for The Telegraph on the need for new free trade deals, entitled “US talks are just the start of exciting new free-trade era,” he said: [21]

“This process marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the UK where, for the first time in over 40 years we will be able to take advantage of the growing markets in the world and determine a trade relationship designed around Britain’s national interest.” [21]

Key Deeds

July 2018

Fox gave the 10th Margaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC, making the case for a US-UK free trade deal. [22]

June 2017

Fox met with two neoconservative think tanks during his first trip to the United States after the 2017 general election. According to documents obtained by DeSmog via the Freedom of Information Act, Fox held a breakfast meeting with think tanks and business associations in Washington D.C. during his trip on 19-20 June. In attendance were the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Heritage Foundation– both influential think tanks backed by corporations and conservative foundations. [23]

April 9, 2017

Civil service documents from Fox’s Department for International Trade, photographed by a train passenger, revealed plans to scale down concern over climate change and the illegal wildlife trade to facilitate post-Brexit trade deals, The Times reported. [24]

July 2016

During his first post-Brexit trip to the United States, less than two weeks after being appointed International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox met with the climate science denying neoconservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation. [11]

An attendees list shows that Fox addressed sixteen Heritage Foundation staff, including the think tank’s president Jim DeMint, and executive vice president, Bret Bernhardt, over lunch “to explain the formation of the Department and UK priorities on trade and our EU renegotiation,” according to the meeting notes. [11]

March 2016

Liam Fox voted against setting a decarbonisation target for the UK within six months of June 2016 and to review it annually thereafter. [15]

In the same month he also voted against requiring a strategy for carbon capture and storage for the energy industry. [15]

June 2013

Liam Fox voted against requiring the setting of a target range for the amount of carbon dioxide (or other greenhouse gases) produced per unit of electricity generated. [15]

October 2012

Liam Fox voted against requiring the UK Green Investment Bank to explicitly act in support of the target of reducing UK carbon emissions to 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. [15]

2007

Fox’s Atlantic Bridge thinktank signed a partnership with the D.C.-based lobby group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), funded by fossil fuel and tobacco companies and known for pushing bills undermining environmental laws across the United States. [9], [10]

The sister organisation set up at this time in the US was called the Atlantic Bridge Project and its director of international affairs was Catherine Bray, who had worked for Conservative MEP Richard Ashworth and UKIPMEPRoger Helmer. Bray has since worked for Eurosceptic Conservative MEPDaniel Hannan. [10]

1997

Liam Fox launched the Atlantic Bridge. Fox said the group’s mission was “to bring people together who have common interests.” The group would defend these interests, he said, from “European integrationists who would like to pull Britain away from its relationship with the United States.” [25]