What to do with Iain Duncan Smith? The Sunday Telegraph tomorrow says he will be given a Department for Children and Social Justice – an idea that has been in the pipeline for a while now. At first, I was against IDS returning to the front bench given what amazing influence he has had as a backbencher. I fancied him as a Frank Field/Wilberforce type – someone used his public platform to advance radical ideas. But that changed when Theresa May was promoted to welfare reform, something which did more to damage my confidence in the Cameron project than anything else since 2007. It seemed to suggest to me that Cameron was not serious about welfare reform (given May’s track record of achieving squat, in any field).
A few months ago, I went up to see IDS in his room in Westminster.
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