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compassionate Conservatism an oxymoron
Pigface - Membercompassionate Conservatism an oxymoron
This - 100%
If he was so concerned about the welfare state why did he let it get to this state, after all its not as if the previous cuts had any affect did they?
Is the quiet man turning ?
He's seen the polling figures showing Labour with a lead and reckons there's a better chance of leading those tories than the lot he's currently with.
Conservative Compassion - an American concept that has worked so well for American Conservativism..
To those who smell a rat, there's this comment on the story in the FT - which is referred to above as an interesting piece of background:
Of course nothing to do with the fact that just today IDS lost his legal battle to keep secret the true extent of the Universal Credit disaster... an 'on principle' resignation over disability benefits cuts? Really? Or an opportune opening for an 'honourable' exit ...with the added bonus of gratifying your Brexit 'out' campaign allies (and perhaps colleagues in a future Cabinet)?
I predict that come the next election we'll have two Conservative parties to vote for and two Labour parties... in the middle of a major crisis and our leaders are running around fighting like I've not seen since I was as school!
Tory cabinet minister in finding a conscience shocker? Or a transparent attempt to preserve his political career by causing the main protagonists of the pro-Europe campaign a problem in advance of the referendum? It's a no-brainer. I don't even know why people are discussing his intentions.
The cynic in me thinks IDS is resigning solely to damage Osbourne and the "In" campaign re Brexit. By kicking Osbourne and Cameron right now he's helping Brexit, a cause he is championing and nailing his colours to Boris' mast as he's next in line if they pull off Brexit.
I honestly don't believe IDS gives a toss about the disabled.
Osbourne looks fatally wounded after this budget and his miscalculation over tax credits last time. He's also 10% Remain so of it goes the other way he's deader than the DoDo
IDS is indeed aligning himself with the Brexit campaign which is looking increasingly strong. (Seems we sgree here @footflaps)
Has to be political, discredit the pro-EU tories, and position himself for the future.
I think the brexit brigade really are clutching at straws if they think Farage, Boris and now IDS is going to strengthen their cause.
footflaps - MemberI honestly don't believe IDS gives a toss about the disabled.
Yup. I'll be honest, I'm perfectly happy for him to be stabbing Osborne in the back, I can't think of anyone I'd rather see stabbed but it doesn't mean he's a good guy. This won't fix any of the lives he's worked tirelessly to ruin.
But still. Brexit is going to bring many opportunities to watch awful people fighting in a sack, I intend to enjoy it to the full.
There was a point when it looked like the Tory's would handle the whole referendum thing in a restrained and civilised manner, it seems not.
I'll bet Cameron is missing the days of having clegg as his human shield
El-bent - Member
Has to be political, discredit the pro-EU tories, and position himself for the future.
I think the brexit brigade really are clutching at straws if they think Farage, Boris and now IDS is going to strengthen their cause.
Wait until Turkey fully joins EU then you do not have to go far to sample the exotic far east tourism experience coz they will be right at your door step. Now you can feed as many of the poor people as you like. If I were from central Asia I would start investing in a Turkish passport now or buy one so when Turkey becomes EU ... half of central Asia is also EU ... Then all the mongols (these are the real ones) from central Asia can join too coz they are all related. 😆
Ya, Utopians are Utopians until reality set in but then they blame others except themselves.
Feed the worlddddd! 😆
Whether Britain stay or go ... EU is screwed! Sscreewwed! The new arrivals don't give two hoots about your culture so long as they can maintain theirs.
Atheism? Ya, right ... please build more places of worship and stop leaking hot air ...
Integration? Obvious is obvious, dumb is dumb.
How many weeks have Cameron and Osborne got left?
Is that the noise of Boris galloping to the rescue of the Tory party on his trusty charger Brexit? 🙂
😀 that's fantastic news, unfortunately there's still the rest of them 🙁
Maybe he's just taking some time out to get a proper, honestly earned education?.
Boris is starting to assemble the conspirators for the coup.
The cynic in me thinks IDS is resigning solely to damage Osbourne and the "In" campaign re Brexit. By kicking Osbourne and Cameron right now he's helping Brexit, a cause he is championing and nailing his colours to Boris' mast as he's next in line if they pull off Brexit.
I honestly don't believe IDS gives a toss about the disabled.
The words nail & head spring to mind.
Now IDS has quit, I hope they stopped his payments from the government promptly.
Nope, he gets a £17k payoff.
IDS resigns, shafts Osborne, boosts the Brexit campaign, UK leaves the EU, Cameron and Osborne resign, Boris becomes new PM, IDS is welcomed back as Chancellor or similar.
That's the plan I reckon.
He's left in the run-up to the referendum to be able to attack Cameron without the constraints of being in the Cabinet. It really is transparent ambition, and dressing it up as some kind of social conscience shows what an odious little shit he really is.
Like Boris, betting everything on Vote Leave.
Hmm, people with no collective memory of what IDS has been saying for years shouting 'I know **** all but will jump on any tory bashing bandwagon' in 'jumping on bandwagon' shocker!
Hmm - Tory ignoring what IDS has been DOING for years in "mounting knee-jerk defence of idealogue" shocker.
Either IDS is a malevolant, one dimensional pantomime villain or he's being painted that way by people who (like me) don't know enough about his policies or what was practical with the budget he had available to work with.
It's quite possible that the plans to slash disability benefits announced by Osborne were partly motivated by the desire to make IDS look even worse than before as he tries to implement them in the run-up to the EU poll. Either way, I doubt his resignation has much to do with principle.
Nah outofbreath, he just wasn't very good and thats pretty dangerous considering his position
Great summary here. (and reflects exactly what my friend saw several years ago at the top of the page)
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/welfare/2016/03/think-iain-duncan-smiths-resignation-masterstroke-sadly-hes-not-clever
This is the man who is the chief architect of the universal credit, which was supposed to have been rolled out in October 2013, and in March 2016 has been rolled out to the grand total of 141,100 people - and by "people", I mean "single men without dependents", the only group whose claims are simple enough to be processed on the universal credit.This is the Secretary of State who has wasted so much money on failed policies that the government is able to claim - entirely truthfully - that the money being spent on disabled people has gone up, even though not a single penny has gone to disabled people while countless billions have been lavished on IT systems that don't work and a benefit reform that will never be implemented.
You couldn't make it up. Oh, wait...
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Actually, meh.
well, TBH if IDS thinks the cuts are too harsh, it's probably a signal to the rest of them...
Good riddance; incompetent and out of touch. Maybe he'll retire to Glasgow?
This man has no principles, as I would understand them. Bencooper has it, though I sincerely hope it doesn't come to pass. At least he can devote more time to his substantive post as village idiot.
Regardless of Political ideology there is a truth in what he said.
That the working age (to this I'd add children) have been disproportionately impacted by cuts. This is a continuation of the previous governments attempt to gain the grey vote.
If cuts are necessary then the impact should be shared equally.
bencooper -IDS resigns, shafts Osborne, boosts the Brexit campaign, UK leaves the EU, Cameron and Osborne resign, Boris becomes new PM, IDS is welcomed back as Chancellor or similar.
That's the plan I reckon.
Sadly, I think you've nailed it, Ben.
🙂
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In his own mind, this is a seismic political move, akin to Geoffrey Howes resignation speech ultimately unseating Thatcher. In reality it's more Geoffrey from Rainbow having a spat with Zippy.
I've never seen such a more transparent piece of political manouvering. The fact that the man who brought us ATOS tests, and the Bedroom Tax is now using a new found concern for the disadvantaged as justification, makes the whole thing absolutely laughable!
Whatever the reason... good riddance! He's a vile, cruel and breathtakingly arrogant little man
[quote=binners ] the man who brought us ATOS tests,
John Reid ?
I'm no IDS fanboi, but having just read his resignation letter saying he couldn't justify the cuts as part of a budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers, it seems - for whatever personal or political reason - a sound reason to quit.
A stand taken far too late, obviously.
Regardless of Political ideology there is a truth in what he said.
That the working age (to this I'd add children) have been disproportionately impacted by cuts. This is a continuation of the previous governments attempt to gain the grey vote.
If cuts are necessary then the impact should be shared equally.
Morally, yeah, but people of working age vote less than pensioners, so clearly democracy requires elderly people to get a better deal, fair or not. Disabled people are a minority and evenly spread around constituencies so nobody needs to court their votes.
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting what to have for lunch.
A moments silence for those that he tipped into further depression, extreme poverty, despair and suicide.
I knew a man called Ian. He was a manager at my mothers workplace in the 1980s. An upbeat, kind, motivated, articulate and energetic human being, loved by all. Sadly he in later years (through whatever events) fell prey to mental illness. He didn't survive the other Ian, and a few years ago our Ian died 'by his own hand'. I rather believe he was pushed as The Letter from the Other Ian was the last thing he received.
IDS should be in 'care and recovery' on pick-up-the soap duty.
It would appear that Lord Ashcroft is less than happy with Call Me Dave and George if this tweet is anything to go by
"In history we had empires so emperors ruled. Then we had kingdoms so kings ruled. Now we are just a country...
8:44 AM - 19 Mar 2016"
What is the cliche? Oh yes, with friends like these..
Counts? Are we now ruled by the European nobility?
IDS is on Marr show at 9, bullshitometer gonna go thru the roof
His former colleague and pensions minister Baroness Altman has laid into him too
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I'm no IDS fanboi, but having just read his resignation letter saying he couldn't justify the cuts as part of a budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers, it seems - for whatever personal or political reason - a sound reason to quit.
Yes, a mere six years to find a conscience. Or a convenient lie. Gosh, I wonder which it could be...
Robert Peston's take on it (from his FB feed:
Iain Duncan Smith's resignation is one of those "oh my god" moments in politics.
Because he is saying, in effect, that he has been morally compromised by the Chancellor and Prime Minister.
He insists that he reluctantly agreed to changes in the personal independence payment, which will reduce disability benefit payments by £1.2bn a year - and that he did so without knowing that they would fund tax cuts for the middle classes.
Here is why he is so angry: his long cherished hope of reforming the welfare system is - in his view - being corrupted by the imperative of shoring up Tory support for George Osborne and David Cameron, and of reducing the deficit as an ideological imperative.
Osborne and Cameron, via their intermediaries, are saying his hands are just as much steeped in the blood of this unpopular disability cut as theirs - and this is all about his visceral belief that they are wholly wrong in wanting Britain to stay in the EU.
Politics rarely gets nastier than this.
UPDATE
So as I just said on News at Ten, a government source tells me the contentious "version" of cutting personal independence payments (PIP) to the disabled has been dropped.
Which is big news.
But let's be crystal clear, my source did not say that there would not be other disability benefit cuts. In fact he implied there would indeed be another "version" of the cuts.
Why?
Well there would be a pretty big hole in George Osborne's budget if he simply loses the £1.2bn a year he was banking on from the PIP reform.
And another thing.
My Downing Street source tells me Duncan Smith resigned knowing the prime minister was about to drop the PIP change.
Duncan Smith denies this. In fact one of his officials tells me that only last night Downing Street was chastising him for not being enthusiastic enough in selling the PIP reform.
This is one almighty government mess.
Most exposed right now is the Chancellor, George Osborne.
When recently asked why he went for the PIP reform, in the face of unease and opposition from his own benches, I understand he pointed the finger of blame at Duncan Smith as Work and Pensions Secretary.
Duncan Smith has tonight said he will not stay in government to be Osborne's human shield.
Which puts the Chancellor directly in the line of fire.
A slightly different take on it. The more we (society) go on about how it was a political move, detracts from the subject matter (the benefits cut).
By not allowing his (lie or not) argument of the cuts being indifensible to be discussed in public, it plays into the Tory hands and the cuts can still go ahead.
We (society) need to keep the debates going of how they shouldn't happen..not go on about the politics of his resignation. Whatever the reason for his resignation ..it's a good thing for the people at the sharp end of the proposed cuts.
By not allowing his (lie or not) argument of the cuts being indifensible to be discussed in public, it plays into the Tory hands and the cuts can still go ahead.
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35841201 ]don't think Corbyn will allow them not to be debated[/url]