Iain Duncan Smith wept CROCODILE TEARS ‘about plight of single mother’ in TV interview

Last Updated: April 5, 2016By
Iain Duncan Smith and Ian Hislop. Asked whether he tried to comfort Duncan Smith, Hislop said: ‘No, I just watched him cry’ [Image: Wingspan Productions Ltd].

Iain Duncan Smith and Ian Hislop. Asked whether he tried to comfort Duncan Smith, Hislop said: ‘No, I just watched him cry’ [Image: Wingspan Productions Ltd].

What follows might seem plausible, considering the former Work and Pensions secretary’s apparent change of heart over the Conservative Government’s attitude to people on benefits. But there are several reasons it isn’t:

The interview took place several months ago, when the Gentleman Ranker was still gleefully kicking away every prop available for the unemployed, the sick and the disabled. He never questioned Conservative Government policy, and often defended it to the best of his (meagre) ability – right up until George Osborne’s disastrous Budget speech of March 16 this year.

We know that this man laughed when it was revealed in the House of Commons that his Bedroom Tax was being used to evict a rape victim from the home in which a special ‘panic room’ had been created for her in case she was ever attacked again. Here’s the photographic evidence:

He laughed: Remember, IDS laughed at the terror he was causing a rape victim by using the Bedroom Tax to make it to expensive for her to keep a 'panic room'. The man thrives on terrorising others.

He laughed: Remember, IDS laughed at the terror he was causing a rape victim by using the Bedroom Tax to make it to expensive for her to keep a ‘panic room’. The man thrives on terrorising others.

And then we have celebrated blogger Jack Monroe’s personal account of his behaviour, tweeted late yesterday after the Guardian article (quoted below) was published.

She wrote: “Could almost believe the IDS tears – if I hadn’t sat behind him LAUGHING thru personal testimonies at Parliamentary inquiry, including mine.

“IDS was actually laughing with the man sitting next to him as people and charities talked about the real human impact of cuts and changes.

“I remember it very well. I was clutching my pen so hard it snapped, eventually walked out. Was with campaigners against disability cuts etc.”

If you watch Ian Hislop’s documentary, bear the above in mind during the segment in which Duncan Smith cries his crocodile tears.

As for Mr Hislop himself, it seems his decision to have “just watched him cry” was well-judged.

Iain Duncan Smith broke down and wept about the plight of a single mother during a television interview months before he quit as work and pensions minister, according to Private Eye editor, Ian Hislop.

Hislop said Duncan Smith started to cry while being filmed last December for a documentary on Victorian attitudes to poverty. “It was a curious thing,” he told the Radio Times. “IDS actually broke down. He wept in front of me. It was a very extraordinary moment.”

Duncan Smith presided over sharp cuts to the welfare budget during his six years in charge of the department before dramatically quitting in March over what he described as the deeply unfair impact of George Osborne’s policies on some of the most vulnerable members of society.

In the programme, to be aired this Thursday, Duncan Smith’s voice quivers and his eyes fill with tears when he talks about meeting a 19-year-old single mother who had given up hope of work. Saying that she reminded him of his daughter, he says: “I’m sorry I’m quite emotional about these … 19-years-old … My aspiration for my daughter was boundless. And here I’m sitting with a 19-year-old girl who had written off her life and had no aspiration and no self-worth. She was a product of a system.”

Source: Iain Duncan Smith ‘wept about plight of single mother’ in TV interview | Politics | The Guardian

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(
but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook

latest video

news via inbox

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

11 Comments

  1. jeffrey davies April 5, 2016 at 5:25 am - Reply

    rtu ids cry he must have missed his breakfast

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eN3fxzn0ro

  2. Nick April 5, 2016 at 5:26 am - Reply

    IDS knew all about the hundreds of welfare reform deaths and it was that alone that drove his resignation i believe and that is all

    he was treading a fine line of not killing himself as every single day he was told of the deaths and that after 6 years of deaths would have takon it’s toll on him

    for us having to record all these deaths has been the most challenging part of my life and am sure i speak for all concerned in the keeping and recording of that data

  3. Terry Davies April 5, 2016 at 6:13 am - Reply

    The Nurenberg defence is probably the defence that all military, political, and the mentally ill use to mitigate sentencing in court actions.
    Does IDS, HUNT, CRABB, and all those who trot out tory excuses. perhaps for some this defence has an element of truth.
    However, its clear that self interest took precedence in the case of DWP and NHS and privatisations of all public sector services. The ‘ crocodile tears may be an indication of trial of this defence for many tory and red tory MPs in this government.
    i believe this defence has no merit for any of them unless they or members of their family were threatened with death.

    • Mike Sivier April 5, 2016 at 10:53 am - Reply

      The Nuremberg Defence is: “I was only following orders.”
      It’s hard to see how this applies to the Conservative cabinet members as they gave the orders, and must take collective responsibility for deciding to do so.

  4. Tim April 5, 2016 at 7:39 am - Reply

    The man is certifiable isn’t he. I really, honestly and truly believe that IDS is insane. To believe that a single parent living on benefits is in any way comparable to his own pampered daughter is bonkers, as is the belief that removing the safety net of social security form such people will help them stand on their own two feet and enjoy any future comparable to that of his daughter is lunatic. Poverty is caused by a lack of money and isn’t cured by further impoverishment (like benefit cuts and freezes) or harassment to get into work when the work isn’t there or employers don’t want you.

    The man is barking.

    Somebody, please, put him out of our misery!

  5. billkruse April 5, 2016 at 8:11 am - Reply

    She was the product of his system. Surely it’s time Smith was properly diagnosed and given appropriate treatment?

  6. casalealex April 5, 2016 at 11:08 am - Reply

    IDS is a delusionist – someone who is a master of their own delusions to the point where they exist in the dual planes of true and false realities, often exhibiting extreme mood swings resulting from the conflicts of planar coexistence and living in an impenetrable state of constant denial.

  7. Brian April 5, 2016 at 3:07 pm - Reply

    Tears for himself, at the thought of facing the consequences of his actions.

  8. NMac April 6, 2016 at 8:41 am - Reply

    Mr Nasty was obviously feeling sorry for his own thoroughly unpleasant and worthless self.

  9. jbw31 April 6, 2016 at 4:22 pm - Reply

    Probably felt sorry for himself that his plans to get everyone working obviously hadn’t worked in this girl’s case. Doubt he was crying for her. Doubt there would have been any tears for a disabled or very ill person who was out of work and not likely to get any either. I’m glad IDS has gone but we’re now in the fire and out of the frying pan with Crabb. He’s planning on getting rid of all ESA so there will be no one too ill or too disabled to work, even though employers don’t want to employ you.

  10. Michelle April 6, 2016 at 5:00 pm - Reply

    But they look like well prepared tears, easy to practice and to think on a scenario to make them as he would have known Ian Hislop’s theme when first being asked for an interview. Very odd, is he being prepared for another ‘role’…

Leave A Comment