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Campaigners voice dismay at honour for former party leader
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Critics yesterday branded a knighthood for ex- Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith an insult to the claimants who suffered because of his controversial welfare reforms. The award to the former Work and Pensions Secretary – the architect of the controversial Universal Credit system – sparked anger among antipoverty campaigners.
His reforms were supposed to streamline benefits but saw many claimants plunge into debt, rent arrears, homelessness. Some even took their own lives.
Duncan Smith promised a “c o m p a s s i o n a t e C o n s e r v a t i s m” after being moved to tears by the poverty in a Glasgow housing estate in a visit to Easterhouse hosted by campaigner Bob Holman in 2002.
But, as Work and Pensions Secretary in David Cameron’s government, Duncan Smith oversaw welfare reforms such as the bedroom tax and cuts to disability payments. Edinburgh- born Duncan Smith has been an MP for 27 years and was leader of the Conservatives from 2001 to 2003. He received a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List for “political and public service”.
But Labour leadership contender Lisa Nandy said: “This is a disgraceful decision by Boris Johnson to reward a legacy of cruelty and failure. This regime deliberately removed the safety net. It stripped people of their dignity. There is no honour in that.”
SNP MP Pete Wishart said: “It’s appalling that Iain Duncan Smith – the architect of Tory welfare reforms and cuts – is being rewarded in this manner. “It is the ultimate insult to social justice campaigners like the late Bob Holman who devoted his life to delivering a better future for people in Easterhouse in Glasgow and felt betrayed by Iain Duncan Smith creating the discredited Universal Credit system. Though, as a close ally of Boris Johnson and a cheerleader for Brexit, his inclusion should come as no surprise given the history of the honours system.”
More than 45,000 people have already signed an online petition objecting to Duncan Smith’s knighthood. Labour MSP Neil Findlay has submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament calling for the honours system to be scrapped. His motion describes the honours system as “completely discredited” and Duncan Smith’s knighthood “an award for services to the Tory party and nothing else”. A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We do not comment on individuals on the list.” Meanwhile, former director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders will receive a damehood despite quitting the post last year after several controversies.
She was criticised after dozens of rape trials collapsed due to the late disclosure of evidence, leading to a review of every rape case in England. She also faced criticism of her handling of Operation Yewtree into sex abuse allegations, when a number of celebrities were cleared. Criminal QC Daniel Janner, son of the late Labour peer Lord Janner who faced child abuse allegations, called Dame Alison “the worst DPP in living memory” and described her damehood as “appalling”.