Savage Popcorn

Iain Duncan Smith’s statement in full

This is the text of Iain Duncan Smith’s statement outside Conservative Central Office today:

“All of you gathered will know that yesterday I called on the parliamentary party to end this ludicrous leadership speculation that has been going on for the past few weeks. I said to end it by Wednesday.

“I can therefore say today that I welcome and am pleased that we will have an opportunity to do that tomorrow.

Of course, IDS’s desire to cling to the leadership of the Tory party means that resigning in order to force the issue was never an option.

“I will absolutely submit my name for a renewed mandate to lead the party to the general election, to lead it to the general election and to win.

Nothing but complete and utter humiliation will stop this man. I’m starting to think that he might have forgotten to set himself up with a few executive directorships for his retirement.

“And I say to my colleagues who will be responsible for making this decision tomorrow that we have an unrivalled opportunity to take the fight to Labour at a time when they are failing and they are being seen to fail.

It’s just a pity that the Tory leadership is too ineffectual to take advantage of this unrivalled opportunity. It’s all well and good IDS moaning about sniping from his own benches, but the fact of the matter is that if he started to cause the Labour Party any real problems the sniping would stop. His own insistence on trying to make excuses for himself is the major cause of IDS’s problems.

“We should not now let the Government off the hook by giving them this opportunity, by plunging ourselves into a fractious leadership election that could last months and give the Government an opportunity to escape proper scrutiny.

Is this a retraction of IDS’s previous threat to cling to the leadership until it’s prised from his cold, dead grasp?

Thought not.

“Therefore, tomorrow I will address the ‘22 Committee, my colleagues, and urge them to renew that mandate for me to go forward, and to put an end once and for all to the speculation that has been sapping away at this party, so that we can as the Opposition deliver a blow the Government and support British people, who will be concerned if we do anything else.

“We have a chance for them to take this Government to task and to win the next election.”

Surely that last sentence should read: “We had a chance for them to take this Government to task and to win the next election but we blew it.”

Mr Duncan Smith also issued the following written statement through Conservative Central Office:

“I am pleased that the Parliamentary party has responded to my call for a swift resolution. I welcome the fact that this matter will now be decided quickly, openly and in the clear light of day, and I look forward to addressing the 1922 Committee tomorrow to make the case for my continued leadership of this party.

We’re all waiting for IDS’s barrage of excuses with baited breath.

“I believe that I have achieved a lot during the last two years. Following a second general election defeat and a divisive leadership contest, the Conservative Party was 20 points behind in the opinion polls. We are now equal with Labour in the polls, and we have become the largest party of local government.

Labour is the current governing party. Traditionally the government sees a drop in popularity around the middle of their term in office - the enthusiasm generated by their election campaigning has worn off and they haven’t started either cutting taxes or increasing expenditure to boost their popularity yet.

On top of this, Blair is still facing repercussions from the Iraq war, the Hutton Inquiry and spin fatigue.

The Tories should have a commanding lead at the moment. For the opposition to claim parity in the polls as an achievement simply reflects insufficient ambition.

“But I do not seek a vote of confidence solely on my past record. I seek the approval of my colleagues for the campaign that is now beginning.

IDS’s past record has gone unnoticed by the electorate. Any future campaigns are likely to suffer the same fate.

A vote of confidence in me will ensure we immediately start communicating to the British people the Conservative alternative to Labour.

If this was the case, why aren’t the Conservatives communicating already?

“A vote of confidence in me can maintain the party unity on tax and Europe which we have achieved over the last two years – and ensure that we remain committed to the far-reaching set of policies in health, education, pensions, policing and asylum which we unveiled in Blackpool this month.

Unity through silence?

Even then, given that the Tories seem to be unable to agree whether to continue charging rightwards or try and take the central ground - which is a pretty fundamental decision as far as strategy goes - I have to say that IDS has a strange idea of what unity is.

“I regard it as my duty to warn my party that a change of leadership at this stage will be regarded with despair and contempt by many loyal supporters, and gravely imperil the party’s prospects at the next election.

Given how out of touch IDS’s supporters appear to be, I’m less than convinced that their opinions are a useful guide to the Tories electoral prospects.

“I know I have the confidence of the grass roots – and I look forward to their original election of me, and their continued support, being validated by my Parliamentary colleagues. Then, united behind my leadership, we can begin the campaign to win the next election.”

Well… united behind someone’s leadership.

The Conservative party really do seem to have lost their way at the moment. They are not coming up with any new ideas and instead are presenting a front that is divided and riven by factions. It’s probably unfair to lay all the blame for this at the feet of Iain Duncan Smith, but he certainly hasn’t done anything to resolve the party’s problems.

What the Tories really need is a Neil Kinnock - someone who has both the ability and the courage to force the various factions to at least appear to be marching to the same beat.

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