Have you met Adam?

Adam Boulton, the political editor of Sky News, was disturbed on a commercial Virgin flight across the Atlantic by some strange electronic noises from another part of the plane—buzzing, bleeping and what sounded like explosions. Not one to shy away from a confrontation, Boulton went over to find the commotion’s source. It turned out to be Liam Fox, then defence secretary, playing war games on a computer. To add to Boulton’s confusion, Fox asked him if he had “met Adam.” Boulton thought the politician had got mixed up, until he was introduced to the man standing up to get Fox’s jumper out of the overhead locker: Adam Werritty, Fox’s former “best man” and the lobbyist whose closeness to Fox would lead to the minister’s resignation.