The law is different in Scotland – as Iain Duncan Smith and Chris Grayling may soon discover

Last Updated: May 7, 2016By

IBelieve-IDS

We’ve had too many disappointments to be hopeful for successful prosecutions against Iain Duncan Smith and Chris Grayling – yet.

But this development is well worth watching.

Scottish police are assessing whether to launch a criminal investigation into the failure of two government ministers to address a coroner’s concerns about the safety of the “fitness for work” test, a failure which may have caused “countless deaths”.

Disabled activist John McArdle, co-founder of the user-led campaign network Black Triangle, lodged a complaint with police in Edinburgh last month about the actions of former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith (pictured) and former employment minister Chris Grayling.

McArdle believes the two Conservative politicians are guilty of the Scottish criminal offence of wilful neglect of duty by a public official, because they failed to take steps to improve the work capability assessment (WCA) in 2010 after being warned by a coroner that its flaws risked causing future deaths.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Police in Edinburgh received a report of misconduct in public office on 23 March 2016.

“The individual who made the complaint has been spoken to and we are awaiting further information to assess this matter and establish what actions are required.”

McArdle’s MP, the SNP’s Tommy Sheppard, has written to the chief constable of Police Scotland, Phil Gormley, asking to be “kept informed of progress”.

Both Duncan Smith and Grayling have refused to comment.

Source: Scottish police assessing possible investigation into IDS and Grayling

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5 Comments

  1. Michael Broadhurst May 7, 2016 at 12:22 am - Reply

    could this be the chink in the armour we’ve been waiting for ?
    keep us all informed Mike.

  2. Joan Edington May 7, 2016 at 12:24 pm - Reply

    It’s a nice thought but I feel sure that some obscure parliamentary law will be found that rules out the laws that mere mortals have to live by. It should be interesting since Tommy Sheppard is the sort of MP to keep helping Black Triangle push things.

  3. NMac May 7, 2016 at 1:16 pm - Reply

    Oh, to see Duncan-Smith in the dock.

    • Phil Lee May 7, 2016 at 2:51 pm - Reply

      Oh, to see Iain Duncan Smith in a jail, along with his bosses, and co-conspirators. It’s blatantly obvious that the whole cabinet, if not the whole party, had to collude in this, or he’d have been made to stop it.
      It’s high time the whole party was banned as a terrorist organisation. As a criminal enterprise, their funds could be confiscated to compensate some of their victims (at least those that have survived).
      How many by-elections constitute a general election?

  4. John May 7, 2016 at 6:17 pm - Reply

    Well, I’m sure that Mike will keep us all more than informed about this one!

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