Iain Duncan Smith has resigned

David Cameron has replied to Iain Duncan Smith's resignation in a letter:

I regret that you have chosen to step down from the government at this moment. Together we designed the Personal Independence Payment to support the most vulnerable and to give disabled people more independence.

We all agreed that the increased resources being spent on disabled people should be properly managed and focused on those who need it most. That is why we collectively agreed - you, No 10 and the Treasury - proposals which you and your department then announced a week ago. Today we agreed not to proceed with the policies in their current form and instead to work together to get these policies right over the coming months.

In the light of this, I am puzzled and disappointed that you have chosen to resign.

dj, Sorry, I thought you meant as leader of the party.

I actually think quite a few NHS workers vote Tory. I have two in my close family, used to know a senior consultant very well and my daughter is friendly with a number of junior doctors. All of them are natural Tory voters, but no more. Most British-born doctors come from relatively wealthy families and a disproportionate number of them have been privately educated. They're not natural Labour voters. If anything, they've defected to the Greens or LibDems in the past, but I know of a couple who have decided that enough is enough and have decided to vote Labour, albeit crossing their fingers behind their backs at the same time.

Hunt is toxic.

Cameron says that together they have worked to promote social justice.
Anyone else see something wrong with this?

Annieb, The more I think about it, the more it seems as though IDS wanted to be portrayed as being stabbed in the back and his resignation to be seen as an heroic act. I think this has everything to do with endearing himself to BREXITers. Personally, it seems more like 'it wasn't me guv' snivelling.

His resignation letter and Cameron's response are quite interesting.

I appear to have suddenly received another ten emails. I bet I know what they are about.

How many NHS workers do you think vote Tory now, daphne?
They would love Hunt to move somewhere else.
Unfortunately, Priti Patel is first choice at Ladbrokes.
Even Chris Grayling and Owen Paterson have better odds than Hunt.

I thought they were both moved to where they could do least harm.
Gove seems to be doing better at the prison service, so might stay there.
Although he does seem to be the go-to for someone to solve the problems caused by others. Shame he was ever put in charge of education.

On second thoughts, he'd probably bring back workhouses, so we do not want him in the DWP.

"That some Tory MPs are jittery may reflect weakening public acceptance of cuts hitting disabled people. Labour needs to lead a public offensive with the aim of maximising a Tory rebellion, focusing on examples of individuals affected by these cuts: people relate better to stories, rather than statistics. The government was forced to partially climb down on cuts to tax credits. Our democracy has to prove that the rights of sick and disabled people matter: let another government retreat be the evidence."

The last paragraph from an Owen Jones article in today's Guardian.

Did he know something that others did not?
Does IDS read the Guardian?

Only if the Conservative Party thinks it can afford to lose the votes of almost everybody working in the NHS.

Jeremy Hunt is 12-1 to take over from him.

Cameron is puzzled and disappointed, as IDS was part of the discussions into the PIP cuts.
Is this the first time that Cameron has not backed someone who resigned?

That's worth pondering on Daphnehill, there is a plot, that's for sure. Why didn't tell Osbourne if he went ahead then he would resign , .osbourne is desperate to be the next leader

Hope you are feeling happier, now, whitewave, than when you were looking for good things to say about the government.
It might be like a pack of cards, one falls and they all fall.

Here's hoping for a good weekend.

I agree daphnedill. The next leader will need to be squeaky clean. I always thought William Hague would make another bid for leader, but he's taken a different path.

Annieb, I wouldn't put money on Boris, Gove or IDS. They're all tainted in their own way. I think they'll choose somebody who's kept his/her head down so far...not sure who.

The consultation outcome documentation for the changes to the criteria for PIPs that focussed on aids and appliances is an interesting read when it comes to the evidence of the need for change. The government completely disagreed with the opinions of the 88 disability organisations who responded to the consultation documentation.

The organisations said the aids and appliances used by an individual were a useful indication of the person's disability and needs. The government said it was not a useful indication because it wasn't possible to tell if the individual was advised to use any aids and appliances, or had simply chosen to do so. And that was that. The opinions of 88 disability organisations were simply overridden.

There was more than one example of this in the report and it is probably the best example of going through the motions of a consultation I've ever seen.

Well I'm to bed

As they say "A day is a long time in politics" Wise words indeed.

Seems Osbourne can forget being leader, there are now a few lining up to be the next cabinet behind Boris. Gove, IDS etc, just has happened to thatcher, the Tory's know how to wield knives into their leaders

leftfootforward.org/2016/03/the-disability-benefits-cut-shows-the-governments-flagrant-disregard-for-evidence/

This was before the resignation. It suggests the DWP and Treasury working together.
It will be interesting to see if we get anybody giving the real cause from the DWP. I doubt if all the civil servants agree with him and will keep quiet.

Oops, sorry Jen x post.

I actually do feel that IDS had a belief in "making work pay" (whether you agree with what he has done or not) but I also believe he was totally incompetent.

One of the commentators also said that his department has to reply to an FOI that asks for how well the changes have been going (not a good translation but I hope you know what I mean). This has been running for, I think, four years but he would, they seemed to think he would have to give the information now.

Heaven save us from Priti Patel though

Surely Priti Patel won't get his job? Her background is lobbying for the tobacco and drinks industries and is definitely in the Leave camp.

Nick Robinson said that IDS's resignation is the moment when Tory splits have got deadly serious.

By the way, he had lost a court battle earlier this week to release papers about universal credit, which he has been refusing to do.

Nadine Dorries was going to vote against the ESA cuts. He told her not to, because it was his bill. Then he resigned because of the cuts.
She's angry about that.

He didn't just do as he was told. He was the driving force behind it.
He said the advancement of social justice was his aim.
What! Not what I call what he's done. And of course it was all the previous Labour government's fault.
His letter is just full of Tory government mantra.

Apparently he sent the letter this afternoon, and so far Cameron has not replied - or hadn't when I started typing this.