Defence secretary Dr Liam Fox said he hoped he could change the “culture of leaks” his department “seems to have inherited”, the BBC reported this morning.

In an interview on the Radio 4 Today programme, Dr Fox was reportedly asked whether comments made by David Cameron to the Commons Liaison Committee yesterday on several unauthorised disclosures to the press represented a rebuke for him and his department.

Cameron had said the department “does seem to have had a bit of a problem with leaks, which is worrying when it is the department responsible for security.”

In response Dr Fox said he was “rebuking them much more”.

It is very easy to get, in a very big department, to get one or two people who will pass things out. I think it is unprofessional and very unfair to their colleagues who are then unable to discuss things in a free way.

I hope it is a culture we can hope to change over time.