IAIN Duncan Smith’s shock resignation has left the Tories in turmoil, turning on each other as they seek to dispel his view that the government is trying to balance the books by hitting society’s poorest and most vulnerable.
He also confirmed that he had considered resigning a year ago, after a series of spats with Chancellor George Osborne over budget cuts, so ill-feeling between the two is nothing new. IDS said he finally decided to go over the thorny issue of Personal Independence Payments (PIP), on which his department was being asked to save £1.3 billion a year to allow tax cuts for the better off – a policy that Osborne was forced to backtrack on.
Ros Altmann, the pensions minister, attacked IDS for championing “the very package of reforms to disability benefits he now says is the reason he has resigned” – a line that had previously been taken by Number 10.
IDS might give the impression of a caring Tory quitting over a policy he, like most of the population, could not stomach, but there may well be another reason for his departure.
Despite David Cameron allowing his Cabinet to forgo the party line on Europe ahead of the EU referendum, it was never going to be easy for a high-level minister to openly campaign for a Brexit.
We are sure that IDS will find it easier to champion this cause freed from the shackles of office, although he has denied that his decision to go had anything to do with Europe.
The political spectacle of a Tory Party riven by civil war is interesting to observe, as is the jostling for position of the various cast members.
Osborne appears manic in his continuing obsession with austerity – although not for his wealthy friends – despite a welter of criticism from all quarters.
He has had an eye on the PM’s job for some time, but this episode would appear to have stymied his chances of landing that.
Tories in turmoil as IDS gets stuck in to Osborne
Letters I: Duncan Smith’s glee at cuts will not be forgotten
George Kerevan: IDS resignation is latest salvo in global crisis for neoliberalism
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