Liam Fox forced into U-turn over legal spat with US multinational 3M | Business | The Guardian.
Liam Fox, the secretary of state for defence, has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn over a claim he was unaware of the details of a legal battle involving the Ministry of Defence's private equity partner and an American technology conglomerate. The case, which centres around the dealings of private equity firm Porton Capital with US Post-it note maker 3M, has mushroomed to include blackmail accusations around alleged threats to withdraw a knighthood awarded to 3M's British boss, Sir George Buckley. Fox has admitted that he was informed of a plan by Harvey Boulter, the chief executive of Porton Capital, to resolve a dispute alleging that 3M failed to "diligently" commercialise life-saving MRSA technology that had been developed by the MoD and sold to 3M in 2007.
