Editing Iain Duncan Smith (section)

==Secretary of State for Work and Pensions==
{{Main|Iain Duncan Smith as Work and Pensions Secretary}}
Following the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], Duncan Smith was appointed by Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] as [[Secretary of State for Work and Pensions]] in the [[Cameron–Clegg coalition]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8707652.stm|title=Welfare "trapping" people in poverty says Duncan Smith|work=BBC News|date=27 May 2010|access-date=26 June 2010|archive-date=8 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108114214/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8707652.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Under his leadership, the [[Department for Work and Pensions]] (DWP) rolled out [[Universal Credit]] and a new [[Work Programme]], as well as implemented a real terms cut in benefits.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite news|date=11 March 2013|title=Archbishop was wrong on benefits cap, says Duncan Smith|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21739607|url-status=live|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110171942/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21739607|archive-date=10 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite news|date=23 January 2012|title=Iain Duncan Smith launches last-ditch appeal over welfare reforms|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9032169/Iain-Duncan-Smith-launches-last-ditch-appeal-over-welfare-reforms.html|url-status=live|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006172725/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9032169/Iain-Duncan-Smith-launches-last-ditch-appeal-over-welfare-reforms.html|archive-date=6 October 2017}}</ref> He also looked at "how to make it harder for sick and disabled people to claim [[Benefit (social welfare)|benefits]]" by giving DWP staff more powers to conduct benefit eligibility tests and to strip benefits from claimants with serious but time-limited health conditions. Duncan Smith was advised it would be illegal to introduce [[Primary and secondary legislation|legislation not requiring parliamentary approval]].<ref name="MalikSep2013">{{cite news|last=Malik|first=Shiv|date=30 September 2013|title=Minister looking at making it harder for sick and disabled to claim benefits|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/30/iain-duncan-smith-sick-disabled-benefits|url-status=live|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170725121224/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/30/iain-duncan-smith-sick-disabled-benefits|archive-date=25 July 2017}}</ref> The DWP was criticised by [[Oxfam]] and [[Justin Welby]] for rises in food poverty.<ref name="beeb-justin">{{cite news|date=7 December 2014|title=Archbishop Justin Welby urges help for UK hungry|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30366020|url-status=live|access-date=8 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207185144/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30366020|archive-date=7 December 2014}}</ref> Duncan Smith himself was criticised by the [[UK Statistics Authority]] and [[National Institute of Economic and Social Research]] for breaking the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.<ref>{{cite news|title=Incapacity Benefits Deaths of Recipients|work=Department for Work and Pensions|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223050/incap_decd_recips_0712.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704182047/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223050/incap_decd_recips_0712.pdf|archive-date=4 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Department for Work and Pensions Statistics |work=UK Statistics Authority |url=http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports---correspondence/correspondence/letter-from-andrew-dilnot-to-rt-hon-iain-duncan-smith-mp-090513.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808082345/http://statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports---correspondence/correspondence/letter-from-andrew-dilnot-to-rt-hon-iain-duncan-smith-mp-090513.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wintour|first1=Patrick|date=15 July 2013|title=Iain Duncan Smith defends use of statistics over benefits cap|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jul/15/iain-duncan-smith-statistics-benefits-cap|url-status=live|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918040600/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jul/15/iain-duncan-smith-statistics-benefits-cap|archive-date=18 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Portes|first1=Jonathan|last2=Gaffney|first2=Declan|date=15 April 2013|title=Conservative claims about benefits are not just spin, they're making it up|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/15/conservative-claims-about-benefits-not-spin|url-status=live|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425211313/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/15/conservative-claims-about-benefits-not-spin|archive-date=25 April 2016}}</ref>

=== Cameron–Clegg coalition ===
[[File:Iain Duncan Smith May 2015.jpg|thumb|Duncan Smith in 2015]]
Shortly after being appointed, Duncan Smith said the government would encourage people to work for longer by making it illegal for companies to force staff to give up work at 65 and bringing forward the planned rises in the state pension age.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Porter |first=Andrew |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7850626/Pensions-shake-up-could-see-most-people-working-into-their-seventies.html |title=Pensions shake-up could see most people working into their seventies |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=23 June 2010 |access-date=26 June 2010 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626100158/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7850626/Pensions-shake-up-could-see-most-people-working-into-their-seventies.html |archive-date=26 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He announced reforms to simplify [[Benefit (social welfare)|benefits]] and [[tax credit]]s into a single [[Universal Credit]] payment, arguing welfare reform would make low earners better off in employment.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last1=Porter|first1=Andrew|date=29 July 2010|title=Conservatives: come off benefits and we'll make work pay|work=Telegraph.co.uk|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/7917691/Conservatives-come-off-benefits-and-well-make-work-pay.html|url-status=dead|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802002640/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/7917691/Conservatives-come-off-benefits-and-well-make-work-pay.html|archive-date=2 August 2010}}</ref> He promised targeted work activity, sanctions and possible removal of benefits for up to three years for those who refused to work.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9179000/9179703.stm Duncan Smith unveils details of welfare 'contract'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113052655/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9179000/9179703.stm|date=13 November 2010}}, BBC</ref> Benefits claimants with part-time incomes below a certain threshold would become required to search for additional work or risk losing access to their benefits.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ross|first1=Tim|date=12 November 2011|title=Duncan Smith plans new crackdown on lazy benefit claimants|work=Telegraph.co.uk|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8885199/Duncan-Smith-plans-new-crackdown-on-lazy-benefit-claimants.html|url-status=live|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013132814/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8885199/Duncan-Smith-plans-new-crackdown-on-lazy-benefit-claimants.html|archive-date=13 October 2018}}</ref> He said benefits were not a route out of [[child poverty]] but hundreds of thousands of children could be lifted out of child poverty if one of their parents were to work at least a 35-hour week at the [[national minimum wage]].<ref>{{cite news|date=13 June 2012|title=Get a job, Iain Duncan Smith tells parents on the dole|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9330574/Get-a-job-Iain-Duncan-Smith-tells-parents-on-the-dole.html|url-status=live|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013093414/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9330574/Get-a-job-Iain-Duncan-Smith-tells-parents-on-the-dole.html|archive-date=13 October 2018}}</ref>

In June 2011, Duncan Smith announced welfare-to-work programmes would be replaced with a single [[Work Programme]], which included incentives for [[private sector]] service providers to help the unemployed find long term employment.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=The Work Programme|url=http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/the-work-programme.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621053942/http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/the-work-programme.pdf|archive-date=21 June 2014|access-date=15 July 2016}}</ref> The DWP announced on the 2012 [[United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities]] that there would be forced work for disabled people who received welfare benefits, in order to "improve disabled people's chances of getting work by mandatory employment".<ref>{{cite news|author=Shiv Malik|date=30 November 2012|title=Sick and disabled braced for enforced work-for-benefits programme|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/nov/30/sick-disabled-work-benefits-programme|url-status=live|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202120420/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/nov/30/sick-disabled-work-benefits-programme|archive-date=2 February 2017}}</ref> In the [[2012 British cabinet reshuffle|2012 Cabinet reshuffle]], Duncan Smith was offered the job at the [[Ministry of Justice]] replacing [[Kenneth Clarke]], but declined, and remained in his post at the DWP.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9520271/Iain-Duncan-Smith-rejected-offer-of-Justice-secretary-to-finish-welfare-reform.html Iain Duncan Smith rejected offer of Justice secretary to finish welfare reform] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006012231/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9520271/Iain-Duncan-Smith-rejected-offer-of-Justice-secretary-to-finish-welfare-reform.html|date=6 October 2017}}. ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London). Retrieved on 15 August 2013.</ref>

In April 2013, Duncan Smith said he could live on £53 per week as Work and Pensions Secretary, after a benefits claimant told the BBC he had £53 per week after housing costs.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mason|first=Rowena|date=1 April 2013|title=Iain Duncan Smith: I could live on £53 per week|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9964767/Iain-Duncan-Smith-I-could-live-on-53-per-week.html|url-status=live|access-date=1 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401122707/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9964767/Iain-Duncan-Smith-I-could-live-on-53-per-week.html|archive-date=1 April 2013}}</ref> Also in April, he called for wealthier people to voluntarily return universal winter fuel payments to help reduce the strain on public finances, prompting some wealthier pensioners to state they had already tried this but had their offers refused because there was no mechanism for returning payments.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/apr/28/iain-duncan-smith-pensioners-benefits Iain Duncan Smith calls for wealthy pensioners to hand back benefits] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314052013/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/apr/28/iain-duncan-smith-pensioners-benefits|date=14 March 2016}}, ''[[The Guardian]]'', 28 April 2013, retrieved 30 April 2013</ref><ref>Michele Hanson, [https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2013/apr/30/hand-back-winter-fuel-payments I tried to hand back my winter fuel payment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312163514/http://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2013/apr/30/hand-back-winter-fuel-payments|date=12 March 2016}}, ''[[The Guardian]]'', 30 April 2013, retrieved 30 April 2013</ref> In the same month, the DWP was subject to an "excoriating" National Audit Office report, accusing the DWP of having "weak management, ineffective control and poor governance" and of wasting £34 million on inadequate computer systems.<ref>"The moral certainty of Iain Duncan Smith", James Landale, BBC News, 5 September 2013 [http://wwwnews.live.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23976325] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20131002143744/http://wwwnews.live.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23976325|date=2 October 2013}}</ref> Duncan Smith dismissed allegations in [[Matthew d'Ancona]]'s 2013 book ''In It Together'' that the Chancellor [[George Osborne]] had referred to him as "just not clever enough". The allegations were also denied by Osborne.<ref>{{cite news|date=1 October 2013|title=Duncan Smith dismisses claim Osborne said he was 'not clever enough'|work=The Guardian|agency=Press Association|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/01/duncan-smith-osborne-not-clever-enough-churchill-thatcher|url-status=live|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103230422/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/01/duncan-smith-osborne-not-clever-enough-churchill-thatcher|archive-date=3 November 2014}}</ref>

In May 2014, it was reported the DWP was employing debt collectors to retrieve overpaid benefits, the overpayment purely down to calculation mistakes by [[HM Revenue and Customs]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dugan|first=Emily|date=29 May 2014|title=Overpaid benefits: Coalition's pursuit turns nasty as debt collectors hound poorest over tax credits|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/overpaid-benefits-coalitions-pursuit-turns-nasty-as-debt-collectors-hound-poorest-over-tax-credits-9456875.html|access-date=29 May 2014|archive-date=29 May 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140529220140/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/overpaid-benefits-coalitions-pursuit-turns-nasty-as-debt-collectors-hound-poorest-over-tax-credits-9456875.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After the "workfare" element of the Work Programme was [[R (Reilly) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions|successfully challenged in the courts in 2013]], Duncan Smith sought to re-establish the legality of the scheme through [[retrospective legislation]] but, in July 2014, the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] ruled the retrospective nature of the legislation interfered with the "right to a fair trial" under [[Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights]].<ref>"IDS' emergency jobseeker law sparks civil liberties outrage", Ian Dunt, politics.co.uk [http://www.politics.co.uk/information/about-politics-co-uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014023331/http://www.politics.co.uk/information/about-politics-co-uk|date=14 October 2013}}, 19 March 2013 [http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/03/19/ids-emergency-jobseeker-law-sparks-civil-liberties-outrage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322091420/http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/03/19/ids-emergency-jobseeker-law-sparks-civil-liberties-outrage|date=22 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=4 July 2014|title=High Court challenges UK work schemes|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-28158483|url-status=live|access-date=24 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304215420/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-28158483|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> The DWP had said 1 million people would be placed on the new Universal Credit benefits system by April 2014, yet by October 2014 only 15,000 were assigned to UC. Duncan Smith said a final delivery date would not be set for this, declaring "Arbitrary dates and deadlines are the enemy of secure delivery."<ref>{{cite news|author=Shiv Malik|title=Leaked universal credit memo shows jobcentre staff struggling with rollout|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/27/universal-credit-leaked-memo-scheme-rollout|url-status=live|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616112855/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/27/universal-credit-leaked-memo-scheme-rollout|archive-date=16 June 2017}}</ref>

=== Cameron majority government ===
In August 2015, Duncan Smith was criticised after the DWP admitted publishing fake testimonies of claimants enjoying their benefits cuts.<ref>{{cite news|author=Ashley Cowburn|date=19 August 2015|title=Welfare office made up quotes from 'happy benefits claimants'|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/welfare-office-made-up-quotes-from-happy-benefits-claimants-pjq38j57x32|url-status=live|url-access=subscription|access-date=28 August 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231002140309/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/welfare-office-made-up-quotes-from-happy-benefits-claimants-pjq38j57x32|archive-date=2 October 2023}}</ref> Later the same month, publication of statistics showed 2,380 people died in a 3-year period shortly after a work capability assessment declared them fit for work. This led to [[Jeremy Corbyn]] calling for Duncan Smith's resignation.<ref>{{cite news|author=Peter Dominiczak|date=27 August 2015|title=Thousands of benefit claimants died after being declared 'fit for work'|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11828097/Thousands-of-benefit-claimants-died-after-being-declared-fit-for-work.html|url-status=live|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828093357/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11828097/Thousands-of-benefit-claimants-died-after-being-declared-fit-for-work.html|archive-date=28 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Jon Stone|date=27 August 2015|title=Iain Duncan Smith should resign over disability benefit death figures, says Jeremy Corbyn|work=The Independent|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iain-duncan-smith-should-resign-over-disability-benefit-death-figures-says-jeremy-corbyn-10475017.html|url-status=live|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150827151224/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iain-duncan-smith-should-resign-over-disability-benefit-death-figures-says-jeremy-corbyn-10475017.html|archive-date=27 August 2015}}</ref> At the 2015 Conservative Party conference, Duncan Smith said to the sick and disabled "With our help, you'll work your way out of poverty" while criticising the current system, which he said "makes doctors ask a simplistic question: are you too sick to work at all? If the answer is yes, they're signed off work – perhaps for ever."<ref>{{cite news|last=Stone|first=Jon|date=6 October 2015|title=Iain Duncan Smith tells disabled people to work their way out of poverty|work=The Independent|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iain-duncan-smith-tells-disabled-people-to-work-their-way-out-of-poverty-a6683361.html|url-status=live|access-date=6 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007074321/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iain-duncan-smith-tells-disabled-people-to-work-their-way-out-of-poverty-a6683361.html|archive-date=7 October 2015}}</ref>

In March 2016, Duncan Smith unexpectedly resigned from the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]]. He stated that he was unable to accept the government's planned cuts to [[disability benefits]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Iain Duncan Smith quits over planned disability benefit changes|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35848687|url-status=live|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418234840/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35848687|archive-date=18 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=19 March 2016|title='A compromise too far': Iain Duncan Smith's resignation letter in full|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/18/iain-duncan-smith-resignation-letter-in-full|url-status=live|access-date=19 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319000534/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/18/iain-duncan-smith-resignation-letter-in-full|archive-date=19 March 2016}}</ref> He later launched an attack on the "government's [[austerity]] programme for balancing the books on the backs of the poor and vulnerable", describing this as divisive and "deeply unfair", and adding: "It is in danger of drifting in a direction that divides society rather than unites it."<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Madison|first1=Rowan|last2=Asthana|first2=Anushka|date=20 March 2016|title=Tories in civil war as Duncan Smith attacks austerity programme|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=London, UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/20/iain-duncan-smith-attacks-deeply-unfair-budget-first-interview|url-status=live|access-date=20 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320143448/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/20/iain-duncan-smith-attacks-deeply-unfair-budget-first-interview|archive-date=20 March 2016}}</ref>