Boris Johnson’s Position ‘Difficult’ If Met Fines Him, Warns Iain Duncan Smith

THE GUARDIAN: Another former Conservative leader piles pressure on prime minister over Partygate allegations

Iain Duncan Smith’s intervention could influence backbench Conservative MPs. Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/AP
The former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has warned Boris Johnson it will be hard to cling to power if the Metropolitan police finds he breached Covid rules.

The comments from the senior Tory will ratchet up pressure on the prime minister to resign if he broke the law, after Johnson received a questionnaire from the Met on Friday regarding alleged parties in Downing Street.

Johnson has so far remained bullish, insisting he broke no rules and having rejected calls to go. But Duncan Smith’s intervention could guide backbenchers – many of whom are said to be waiting for the Met’s probe to conclude before deciding whether to submit letters of no confidence.

If Johnson broke the law, “I think it would be very tough for anyone to remain after that”, Duncan Smith told the i. “If you’ve set the laws, and you break them and the police decide you have broken them. » | Jem Bartholomew | Saturday, February 12, 2022

Prove It! 200,000 Call on Iain Duncan Smith to Live on £53 a Week

THE INDEPENDENT: A petition calling on Iain Duncan Smith to demonstrate he can live on £53 per week passed 200,000 signatures today.

The Work and Pensions Secretary claimed yesterday he could get by on the curtailed budget if he “had to”.

The remark followed a challenge by market trader David Bennett on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

The online petition, hosted at www.change.org, said: “This petition calls on Iain Duncan Smith to live on this budget for at least one year. This would help realise the Conservative Party's current mantra that 'We are all in this together'.

“This would mean a 97 per cent reduction in his current income, which is £1,581.02 a week or £225 a day after tax.” Read on and comment » | Tim Sculthorpe | Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Minister Leaps to Romney's Defence

MSN NEWS: A Tory Cabinet minister has hit out at the "appalling demonisation" of Mitt Romney in the UK media.

Iain Duncan Smith praised his record as a governor and businessman and complained that the Republican presidential candidate had been wrongly portrayed as "stupid".

He also pointed out that under Barack Obama the US deficit had "gone from something like 4-500 billion dollars to three or so trillion dollars", and suggested the superpower's economy was stagnating.

Although Mr Duncan Smith stressed he did not know Mr Romney personally, and was not necessarily a "fan", the remarks appeared to risk breaching the convention against ministers taking sides in foreign elections.

"The demonisation of Mitt Romney over here has been appalling really," the Work and Pensions Secretary told BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics. "He may have faults. All politicians have faults. But this is a guy who ran a state very well.

"He got their debts and deficit down. He's turned around businesses. Whatever else you may say about him, he is not stupid, and he is made out to be stupid over here." » | pa.press.net | Monday, November 05, 2012