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Iain Duncan Smith slams Osborne and Cameron: 'this is not the way to do government' - live Iain Duncan Smith resignation sparks Tory civil war - live
(35 minutes later)
12.11pm GMT
12:11
IDS is clearly incensed by speculation his resignation is about Europe.
I am not in anyway restrained on Europe. If I was restrained that might have had some logic but I am not.
I haven’t spoken about Europe for ten years. I’m in government because I care about social justice. I didn’t have to come back into government and I didn’t want any other job.
He will not address Ros Altmann’s comments directly, but said he was prepared that people would attempt to discredit him.
12.08pm GMT
12:08
IDS says he has been mulling his position for nine months but the Budget had been the clincher.
When I was sitting looking at the Budget, it took me 48 hours [to decide] that I was better off out and I should make these arguments about our direction from the outside.
I want them [the government] to get back on track and I won’t achieve that because of the narrowing o the base we can’t keep going after working age pensions. I would rather leave than snipe from the sidelines and brief, as some people do.
12.05pm GMT
12:05
IDS repeats that his main frustration is how what was intended to be a consultation on disability payments became linked to the budget, framed as a saving to pay for tax cuts.
I found that really wrong, unfair and not the right characterisation which was a broader look at disability payments.
12.03pm GMT
12:03
IDS: This has nothing to do with Europe
Iain Duncan Smith is back on your screens, speaking to Faisal Islam of Sky News.
The first challenge to him is on Europe. He says:
This is nothing to do with Europe. I have not been restricted in any way [from speaking out on Europe].
If you do not mind me saying so... this is something deliberately putout there to try to discredit me
Updated
at 12.06pm GMT
11.47am GMT
11:47
It’s hard to keep track of how some of the sensational volleys from different wings of the warring Tory party have unfolded over less than 48 hours, but here’s a good run downs of the attacks and counter-attacks.
Related: Tory civil war sparked by resignation – in quotes
11.42am GMT
11:42
Heidi Allen, the Conservative MP who garnered major attention for her attack on tax credit cuts in her maiden speech, has been speaking to Andrew Neil on the Sunday Politics.
She points out that, despite briefings from Downing Street on Friday night, there is no official confirmation of a u-turn on disability cuts via a change to personal independence payments.
Tory MP Heidi Allen says "we have made some poor decisions" in the budget and some of tax cuts wrong - "got to start again"
.@heidiallen75 tells #bbcsp IDS was "right to resign. He's had enough of the pursestrings being pulled... he felt he had no other option."
She is in full agreement with IDS that the new disability assessment criteria for personal independent payments are not fit for purpose.
“The whole assessment process just doesn’t work for too many sick and disabled people. For me we need to look at the whole programme again,” she said.
Osborne can save his career if he u-turns on PIP, she said. Asked if he had any chance of being prime minister, she said: “It depends how he respond to that challenge, in the coming weeks and months. I hope so yes.
“Sometimes the strength of the man is how he picks himself up after a fall, if he attempts to brush it under the carpet than i would say no, absolutely not. Making mistakes is OK, provided you correct them.”
Allen said she hoped the current civil war in the party “might be the sense check we all need” with the party at risk of being obsessed with division over Europe.
“This could be slap to the face we all need,” she said.
Updated
at 11.54am GMT
11.34am GMT11.34am GMT
11:3411:34
Here’s just one of the clips from the show where IDS calls the budget measures “deeply unfair” in his first interview since resigning as work and pensions secretary on Friday.Here’s just one of the clips from the show where IDS calls the budget measures “deeply unfair” in his first interview since resigning as work and pensions secretary on Friday.
11.33am GMT11.33am GMT
11:3311:33
The key quotes from Iain Duncan Smith's explosive interviewThe key quotes from Iain Duncan Smith's explosive interview
On the government’s austerity programmeOn the government’s austerity programme
They [the government] are losing sight of the direction of travel they should be in. It is in danger of drifting in a direction that divides society rather than unites it.They [the government] are losing sight of the direction of travel they should be in. It is in danger of drifting in a direction that divides society rather than unites it.
On the scale and impact of the cuts to disability benefits, combined with tax breaks for higher earnersOn the scale and impact of the cuts to disability benefits, combined with tax breaks for higher earners
Juxtaposed as it came through in the Budget, that is deeply unfair and was perceived to be unfair. And that unfairness is damaging to the government, it’s damaging to the party and it’s actually damaging to the public.Juxtaposed as it came through in the Budget, that is deeply unfair and was perceived to be unfair. And that unfairness is damaging to the government, it’s damaging to the party and it’s actually damaging to the public.
On tensions in the cabinet and the top-down approachOn tensions in the cabinet and the top-down approach
There needs to be a greater, collegiate sense on how decisions are made. This is not the way to do government.There needs to be a greater, collegiate sense on how decisions are made. This is not the way to do government.
On Osborne’s entire deficit reduction strategy, cutting benefits for working-age people while protecting those for pensionersOn Osborne’s entire deficit reduction strategy, cutting benefits for working-age people while protecting those for pensioners
The truth is yes we need to get the deficit down but we need to make sure we widen the scope of where we look to get that deficit down and not just narrow it down on working age benefitsThe truth is yes we need to get the deficit down but we need to make sure we widen the scope of where we look to get that deficit down and not just narrow it down on working age benefits
Because otherwise it just looks like we see this as a pot of money, that it doesn’t matter because they don’t vote for us.Because otherwise it just looks like we see this as a pot of money, that it doesn’t matter because they don’t vote for us.
On talk of an attempted coup on Downing StreetOn talk of an attempted coup on Downing Street
This is not personal ... I have no personal ambitions. If I never go back into government again, I will not cry about that. I came into this government because I cared about welfare reform.This is not personal ... I have no personal ambitions. If I never go back into government again, I will not cry about that. I came into this government because I cared about welfare reform.
On the success of Cameron and OsborneOn the success of Cameron and Osborne
I am concerned that this government that I want to succeed is not actually able to do the kind of things that it should because it has become too focused on narrowly getting the deficit down without being able to say where that should fall other than simply on those who I think progressively can less afford to have that fall on them.I am concerned that this government that I want to succeed is not actually able to do the kind of things that it should because it has become too focused on narrowly getting the deficit down without being able to say where that should fall other than simply on those who I think progressively can less afford to have that fall on them.
I am resigning because I want my government to think again about this and get back to that position that I believe, which is about being a One Nation [party].I am resigning because I want my government to think again about this and get back to that position that I believe, which is about being a One Nation [party].
On allegations that his resignation is about BrexitOn allegations that his resignation is about Brexit
This is not some secondary attempt to attack the Prime Minister or about Europe. It is nothing to do with that at all – if I wanted to do that I would have been clear. I have never, ever hidden my views about something and I’m not doing it now. I am genuinely, genuinely concerned.This is not some secondary attempt to attack the Prime Minister or about Europe. It is nothing to do with that at all – if I wanted to do that I would have been clear. I have never, ever hidden my views about something and I’m not doing it now. I am genuinely, genuinely concerned.
11.20am GMT11.20am GMT
11:2011:20
Some reaction from Conservative MPs to Duncan Smith’s interview earlier - both praise and scepticism.Some reaction from Conservative MPs to Duncan Smith’s interview earlier - both praise and scepticism.
Superb articulation of the true Conservative mission by IDS on #Marr. Listen up allSuperb articulation of the true Conservative mission by IDS on #Marr. Listen up all
Compelling case from #IDS on social justice & priorities for Govt #MarrCompelling case from #IDS on social justice & priorities for Govt #Marr
It was impossible for #IDS to defend #PIP changes whilst tax was being cut for wealthy. He was right to refuse to do so & to resignIt was impossible for #IDS to defend #PIP changes whilst tax was being cut for wealthy. He was right to refuse to do so & to resign
I am very reluctant to have to conclude that IDS resignation is not as straight forward as he would want us to believe. #wrongthingtodoI am very reluctant to have to conclude that IDS resignation is not as straight forward as he would want us to believe. #wrongthingtodo
10.55am GMT10.55am GMT
10:5510:55
Jenkin: Downing Street 'deeply insincere'Jenkin: Downing Street 'deeply insincere'
Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin, a key ally of IDS and fellow Eurosceptic, has been on Sky News in the last hour speaking to Dermot Murnaghan’s show.Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin, a key ally of IDS and fellow Eurosceptic, has been on Sky News in the last hour speaking to Dermot Murnaghan’s show.
He’s being filmed in a leafy garden, which he says are the ground of his mother-in-law’s house.He’s being filmed in a leafy garden, which he says are the ground of his mother-in-law’s house.
.@bernardjenkin - Gov "deliberately trying to fog atmosphere" over perplexed IDS resignation comments #Murnaghan https://t.co/CrtjXBcJtJ.@bernardjenkin - Gov "deliberately trying to fog atmosphere" over perplexed IDS resignation comments #Murnaghan https://t.co/CrtjXBcJtJ
“She does not need to receive a £200 winter fuel allowance,” Jenkin said, but he claims Duncan Smith had always been denied any suggestion that he could start reining back benefits for better-off pensioners. The cuts had to bear on working people and families, including the disabled, Jenkin said.“She does not need to receive a £200 winter fuel allowance,” Jenkin said, but he claims Duncan Smith had always been denied any suggestion that he could start reining back benefits for better-off pensioners. The cuts had to bear on working people and families, including the disabled, Jenkin said.
Frankly, for the government to say ‘oh we’re so perplexed, we don’t know why he resigned.... They are deliberately trying to fog the atmosphere.Frankly, for the government to say ‘oh we’re so perplexed, we don’t know why he resigned.... They are deliberately trying to fog the atmosphere.
Jenkin said it was “deeply insincere” and said the key point was how revealing the row had been about the way Downing Street operates.Jenkin said it was “deeply insincere” and said the key point was how revealing the row had been about the way Downing Street operates.
They have taken the same playbook as Brown and Blair. Everything is dictated from the top for short term political advantage. This cannot go on.They have taken the same playbook as Brown and Blair. Everything is dictated from the top for short term political advantage. This cannot go on.
We need to reset how Whitehall operates. The prime minister is supposed to be primus inter pares [first among equals] not a dictator. The Chancellor should not control individual departments. And Iain is not the only minister who has got hugely frustrated.We need to reset how Whitehall operates. The prime minister is supposed to be primus inter pares [first among equals] not a dictator. The Chancellor should not control individual departments. And Iain is not the only minister who has got hugely frustrated.
What a bunch of lefties the Tory right appear to be. Hmm #MurnaghanWhat a bunch of lefties the Tory right appear to be. Hmm #Murnaghan
UpdatedUpdated
at 11.02am GMTat 11.02am GMT
10.42am GMT10.42am GMT
10:4210:42
MP Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, the influential Conservative backbenchers group, is up next on Pienaar’s Politics.MP Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, the influential Conservative backbenchers group, is up next on Pienaar’s Politics.
He is in politics for his beliefs and convictions and my inclination when he says something and gives his reasons is believe what he is saying. I think people often underestimate just how difficult it is for someone to come to this kind of decision.He is in politics for his beliefs and convictions and my inclination when he says something and gives his reasons is believe what he is saying. I think people often underestimate just how difficult it is for someone to come to this kind of decision.
Brady, an Out-er, says that Altmann is “wrong” about IDS’ motivation.Brady, an Out-er, says that Altmann is “wrong” about IDS’ motivation.
The worst thing you can do is impune somebody else’s motives for what they are doing and what they are saying. We are all involved in this because we have strong beliefs and are passionate about our country.The worst thing you can do is impune somebody else’s motives for what they are doing and what they are saying. We are all involved in this because we have strong beliefs and are passionate about our country.
I would caution colleagues and senior advisers in government just to reflect on the damage that can be done.I would caution colleagues and senior advisers in government just to reflect on the damage that can be done.
He said briefings about IDS’ ulterior motivations are “very unwise and will make it harder to pull the party back together after the referendum.”He said briefings about IDS’ ulterior motivations are “very unwise and will make it harder to pull the party back together after the referendum.”
UpdatedUpdated
at 10.44am GMTat 10.44am GMT
10.33am GMT10.33am GMT
10:3310:33
Priti Patel, the employment minister and a fellow leading eurosceptic close to IDS, is now on the line on Pienaar’s Politics. She has phoned in to contradict Ros Altmann’s analysis, despite the fact they are still supposedly ministers in the same department.Priti Patel, the employment minister and a fellow leading eurosceptic close to IDS, is now on the line on Pienaar’s Politics. She has phoned in to contradict Ros Altmann’s analysis, despite the fact they are still supposedly ministers in the same department.
She is very keen to lend her support to her former boss, though she will directly support what IDS’ said in his interview about the welfare cap, which he called “arbitrary” and unfair.She is very keen to lend her support to her former boss, though she will directly support what IDS’ said in his interview about the welfare cap, which he called “arbitrary” and unfair.
“That’s a matter for Iain,” she said, but says that IDS’ interview on Marr was done with “great dignity”.“That’s a matter for Iain,” she said, but says that IDS’ interview on Marr was done with “great dignity”.
“I don’t speculate about future leadership, we are a very strong party in government and we all work to deliver security and opportunity for the people of Britain,” she said.“I don’t speculate about future leadership, we are a very strong party in government and we all work to deliver security and opportunity for the people of Britain,” she said.
Iain has spoken very passionately today with great conviction and dignity in terms of making his case.Iain has spoken very passionately today with great conviction and dignity in terms of making his case.
10.23am GMT
10:23
Ros Altmann, the pensions minsiter who made that extraordinary statement attacking IDS has been speaking to John Pienaar’s show on Radio 5Live.
Altmann claims the resignation had been planned for weeks: “This was coming... this has to be about Europe not the policy.”
There is absolutely no love lost here. She claims to have been effectively silenced by IDS, unable to speak her mind, tweet or update her consumer rights’ blog.
Ros Altmann on Pienaar brands IDS resignation "disingenuous" + thinks he planned it to damage the government. "This has to be about Europe"
Updated
at 10.25am GMT
10.19am GMT
10:19
IDS assessment of George Osborne is even more astonishing when you see it written down. pic.twitter.com/ZnN0BQdtQq
10.16am GMT
10:16
Owen Smith, Labour’s shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, offers his view on the Iain Duncan Smith’s interview on the Andrew Marr show. He says the Conservative Party is “tearing itself apart over an unfair Budget” and that Osborne should resign.
“No-one will believe Iain Duncan Smith’s sudden change of heart,” he said.
After all this is the man who introduced the Bedroom Tax. But what his comments do reveal is growing anger within the Conservative Party about George Osborne’s management of the economy.
The Chancellor’s unfair Budget is falling apart at the seams. George Osborne now needs to urgently clarify whether these cuts to disability benefits will go ahead and, if not, how he will make up for the huge hole in his Budget.
Jeremy Corbyn is right. Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation is a symptom of a wider problem made at the Treasury.
George Osborne should take responsibility and resign. He has failed his party, failed the economy and failed our country.
Updated
at 10.17am GMT
10.15am GMT
10:15
Andy Burnham, the shadow home secretary, is speaking on Murnaghan now.
He says politicians must remember that “amongst the political intrigue” hundreds and thousands of disabled people are worried about the future, and calls on Stephen Crabb, the new secretary of state, to cancel the new criteria for PIP.
“The new villain of the piece is emerging,” Burnham said, referring to Osborne. “He has reduced people to fear and nervous exhaustion. He has made arbitrary cuts to benefits that even IDS couldn’t support. They play politics with the lives of vulnerable people.”
Updated
at 10.15am GMT
10.09am GMT
10:09
Amber Rudd: 'To launch this bombshell... is really disappointing'
Amber Rudd, the secretary of state for Energy and Climate Change, is speaking on Sky News’ Murnaghan about IDS’ resignation.
I don’t really understand it, I am perplexed but I have sat at cabinet with him every week, and then to launch this bombshell at the rest of us, it is difficult to understand and is really disappointing.
She said she resents his “high moral tone” on one nation Conservatism. “We are a team as a government and he has broken ranks with that team which is upsetting.”
He has now “created a bit more time on his hands” to work on getting Britain out of the EU, Rudd said. Number 10 is very keen to push this line.
Updated
at 10.12am GMT
10.05am GMT
10:05
Anushka Asthana
Here’s the Guardian’s political editor’s first take on that dramatic interview.
Iain Duncan Smith spent five years in opposition drawing up plans to overhaul welfare; Universal Credit was the entire basis of his decision to co-found the Centre for Social Justice think-tank.
His key argument today is that his desire to roll out those reforms was the only reason that he entered Government - an ambition to drive a “social justice” agenda that would help people into work.
What he hadn’t realised was going to happen was the 2008 financial crash that would devastate the economic landscape in which he would enter the Department for Work and Pensions.
Duncan Smith said he knew that Government would require “compromise” but he wanted to do it in order to try to deliver his plans.
Doing so under the cloak of austerity meant that welfare cuts became the overriding narrative, while Universal Credit was more seen as a huge, at time inefficient reform, which had its deadline pushed further and further back.
Duncan Smith says he could take the austerity agenda, but admitted that he was constantly under fire from the Treasury.
Despite his warm words for the Prime Minister and Chancellor, his key argument he made this morning was that the Conservatives were this morning is damning: to suggest that the leadership went brutally after welfare because the working poor were not a group that had or ever would vote Tory.
Critics of Duncan Smith would ask why he then accepted the scale of cutbacks for six years before stepping away. Disability reforms, he said, were the straw that broke the camel’s back.
He said he had supported policies to help pensioners like the triple lock, but enough was enough. The warning now is that there is a risk that Government policy is drifting in a discretion that “divides society rather than unites it”.
Which, however much he tried to avoid attacking his party, is a highly critical point.It shines a light on the way that the Treasury has pitted the welfare bill against other departmental spending - because one thing is true: it is very popular to cut benefits.
Labour has struggled itself with how to respond because the polling is so stark.Duncan Smith’s parting shot is to say the time has come for politics to rise above populism - and stop hurting the most vulnerable, just because it is easy to do so.
For that he will be commended. But for campaigners who viciously opposed policies like the bedroom tax - it may feel like too little too late.As for George Osborne’s leadership hopes - Duncan Smith didn’t need to put the knife in on the Andrew Marr show - the entire resignation has done that, reducing Osborne’s chances dramatically.
David Cameron is trying to protect his closest colleague and friend by making sure that it is number 10 reacting to Duncan Smith’s decision. But the Treasury team will now also be desperately trying to find ways to shore up their boss’s position.
10.04am GMT
10:04
Some of the rapid reaction on social media on what must surely rank as one of the most explosive political interviews in recent history.
That was simply amazing. I can't remember a more dramatic political interview on television for years #marr
Blimey. IDS tells #marr government only cares about people who vote for them, are attacking the vulnerable and risk dividing the country...
The whole of Osborne and Cameron's political mission since 2010, focus on eliminating the deficit, attacked by IDS. Extraordinary. #marr
Updated
at 10.18am GMT
9.57am GMT
09:57
IDS has finished his interview, reiterating he would vote for David Cameron to remain PM if there was a leadership election tomorrow.
9.53am GMT
09:53
IDS insists his resignation is not personal attacks against Osborne.
Would George Osborne make a good prime minister? “I would hope he would,” he said.
He calls talk of a coup “piffle”.
I have a high regard for the prime minister. I would not stand for leader or support someone who could stand for leader now.
“It is not easy, it is painful to resign,” he said. “I am not in the business of morality, but the risk is there and I want to change that. I would rather campaign to change that.”
I care for one thing and one thing only...that the people who don’t get the choices my children get are not left behind.
Updated
at 10.01am GMT
9.51am GMT
09:51
IDS: 'I have absolutely no personal ambitions'
IDS said he understood the “need to eradicate the deficit because the people who suffer most people are people on lowest incomes.”
But he said the government had to “widen the scope” in the ways in which it tried to get the deficit down, not just by targeting working age benefits.
He suggested the working age benefits were targeted because “it doesn’t matter because [people on benefits] don’t vote for us. But they are people, people who I want to help get into work.”
“I have absolutely no personal ambitions. If I never go back into government I won’t cry about that.”
Updated
at 10.12am GMT