Iain Duncan Smith

Iain Duncan Smith (born 1954) is the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He is the Conservative MP for Chingford and Woodford Green.

He was leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to November 2003. He lost a vote of confidence in October 2003 year and stepped down eight days later, with Michael Howard taking up the post.

HMS Conway

According to the website of HMS Conway Iain Duncan Smith was there between 1968 and 1972. Under a section entitled 'Notable old Conways' the website describes how:

'He joined Conway in January 1968 when he was nearly 14. During his sojourn he was a Focsleman, a drummer in the band, captain of the cricket team in 1972, won "colours" in the first XV in the Autumn 1971 term and played for the hockey team. He won the Lawrence Holt prize for History in 1972 and left with 3 A levels and 8 O levels'.

CV inaccuracies

A Newsnight investigation in December 2002 found that Iain Duncan Smith's CV contained 'inaccurate and misleading' claims about his education. The investigation found that Duncan Smith's biography on the Conservative Party website, his entry in Who's Who, and various other places, stated that he went to the Universita di Perugia in Italy. It transpired instead that he had attended the Universita per Stranieri, which is also in Perugia, however the University did not award degrees when Duncan Smith attended in 1973. When challenged by Newsnight, Duncan Smith's office confirmed that he 'didn't get any qualifications in Perugia or even finish his exams'.

The first line of Ian Duncan Smith's biography on the Conservative Party website claimed that he was 'educated at Dunchurch College of Management'. Dunchurch was the former staff college for GEC Marconi, where he worked in the 1980s, again Duncan Smith's office confirmed to Newsnight that 'he did not get any qualifications there either, but that he completed six separate courses lasting a few days each, adding up to about a month in total'. John Garside, a former Dunchurch tutor, told the Newsnight investigation team 'I'm puzzled, flattered, but puzzled. What we did was offer short courses... it was not a continuous form of education by any means.'

Iraq

Iain Duncan Smith supported the launching of a pre-emptive attack on Iraq, prior to the 2003 invasion, because he argued 'It is now time for the prime minister to explain to the British people what he already knows - that Iraq is a clear and growing danger to Britain.'

Welfare reform

In an article for the Big Issue, Iain Duncan Smith argued that Britain was heading for 'social apartheid' because of the welfare system. In laying out his agenda for the Centre for Social Justice, he cited the work of Charles Murray arguing that:

The right-wing commentator Charles Murray has described the emergence of a caste society where the cheapest option becomes the segregation of society’s most vulnerable and most dysfunctional members. In Murray’s gated society problems are never conquered – only managed. Some people are literally imprisoned. Some, particularly minority communities, live in heavily-policed urban ghettoes. In this vision of social apartheid some are kept permanently on benefits. Others are becalmed by Ritalin and equivalent drugs.

There is one sure way of making sure that this dystopian caste society becomes a horrible reality for Britain. And that is to carry on as we are. Labour may hate the idea of a caste society but that is exactly where we’ll end up if we stick with their big-state, values-free mindset.

Personal wealth

The Liberal/Conservative coalition government of 2010 has been described as a 'coalition of millionaires' because 23 of its 29 MPs who are entitled to attend Cabinet meetings have assets and investments estimated to be worth more than £1million. Iain Duncan Smith is one of the 23 millionaires.

Affiliations

Centre for Social Justice - chairman, Social Justice Scotland - says it is inspired by Iain Duncan Smith's work, GEC Marconi - Former Employee, Conservative Party

Resources

• Chris Blackhurst, The contradictory world of Iain Duncan Smith, Independent, 9 October 2001.
• BBC News, Tory leader's education under scrutiny, BBC News, 19 December 2002, Accessed 13-May-2010
• BBC News, Newsnight reveals inaccuracies in Iain Duncan Smith's CV, BBC Press Office, 19 December 2002, Accessed 13-May-2010
• Andrew Sparrow and Benedict Brogan, Aide's email warning of risk to IDS triggered investigation, Daily Telegraph 13 October 2003, Accessed 13-May-2010
• Paul Lewis,
• Melissa Kite, Coalition to tell unemployed to 'get on your bike', The Telegraph, 26-June-2010, Accessed 03-July-2010
• James Meikle and Patrick Wintour, Iain Duncan Smith issues stark benefits system warning, The Guardian, 30-July-2010