Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation is turning him into some sort of hero, a champion of the disadvantaged, whereas in reality he has been at the forefront of some of the most brutal cuts to welfare payments in modern times.
Universal credit has been a disaster, and has still not been rolled out fully, the bedroom tax has made life a misery for disabled people and we are presently awaiting details of how many people have killed themselves due to the cuts.
However, reading between the lines of his resignation letter, it appears that the main culprit is George Osborne, who has continually forced the DWP to make savings in order to give money to the well off.
Iain Duncan Smith said: “I am unable to watch passively whilst certain policies are enacted in order to meet the fiscal self imposed restraints that I believe are more and more perceived as distinctly political rather than in the national economic interest.”
He then added, perhaps more tellingly:” I hope as the government goes forward you can look again, however, at the balance of the cuts you have insisted upon and wonder if enough has been done to ensure “we are all in this together”.
These two statements sum up all what is wrong with the Government and rightly earns the Tory party the name they hate – The Nasty Party.
Firstly, the cuts are politically motivated and not in the national interest, probably made to enhance Osborne’s ambitions to be Prime Minister when Cameron goes.
Secondly, we are not in this all together and never have been, from the first days of the coalition the poor, disadvantaged and disabled have had to pay for the mistakes of the Banker’s and the deficit.
The well off, and in particular the super rich, have actually enhanced their wealth under this Government, as evidenced by the Sunday Times Rich List last year.
In this year’s budget the threshold for 40% tax earners was raised and there were significant changes to capital gains taxes, all at the expense of the disabled.
The problem is Cameron doesn’t seem to get it, with his reply to Iain Duncan Smith saying that he is puzzled and disappointed by his resignation.
Well if you are puzzled that there has been such a backlash against the cuts not only from your own party but also from the public then its probably time to go.