Iain Duncan Smith

The news that John Bercow was joining the Labour Party came as much a surprise to Sir Keir Starmer as everyone else.

Boris Johnson has said that a path through the “thicket of burdensome and restrictive regulation” must be cleared to fulfil the potentials of Brexit. A report from Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) led by Iain Duncan Smith has described Brexit as a “one-off opportunity” to reduce red tape and set out a new […]

Boris Johnson’s administration is recruiting an external adviser to identify new opportunities following Brexit to demonstrate the benefits of the UK’s departure from the European Union. Almost five years on from the Brexit referendum result, the Tory government continues to struggle to demonstrate the tangible benefits of leaving the EU. It has set former Tory leader […]

China has hit British institutions and MPs including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith with sanctions in response to similar moves by the UK over the treatment of people in Xinjiang. Britain, the US, Canada and the European Union slapped sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses in the country’s autonomous north-west […]

Conservative rebels have failed in their bid to prevent ministers from signing trade agreements with countries implicated in genocide following Brexit. The House of Commons voted 319 to 297, majority 22, to disagree with a Lords amendment to the Trade Bill. This would have established a parliamentary panel of judicial experts to determine whether any […]

MPs can “send a signal” to China and “give hope” to victims of human rights abuses by supporting a House of Lords amendment to the post-Brexit Trade Bill, a former Conservatives leader said. The government will seek in the Commons to overturn the amendment which would limit its ability to strike agreements with countries involved […]

Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith has criticised the government’s handling of its post-Brexit trade bill – comparing Boris Johnson’s administration to Handforth Parish Council for failing to read the standing orders. The Brexiteer claimed the government had “deliberately blocked” a showdown with Conservative rebels using “tricks” and “games” to avoid a key vote which could […]

Tory rebels have accused the government of using game-playing to prevent a Commons vote on an attempt to outlaw post-Brexit trade deals with countries that are committing genocide. MPs are threatening to back a House of Lords amendment forcing ministers to withdraw from any free trade agreement with a country which the High Court rules is […]

Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) has defended calling Donald Trump “a decent man”, arguing it is the duty of any British MP to maintain good relations with a US president. IDS said he “did not resile” from his efforts to befriend the US president. In 2016, IDS agreed with former Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan who said the US president was […]

Boris Johnson is under pressure to control a potential rebellion as senior Tory MPs plan to support a move to outlaw trade deals with countries that are committing genocide. The government is seeking to reverse key amendments to the Trade Bill passed by the House of Lords when the legislation returns to the Commons on […]

Dominic Raab has faced Tory pressure to develop new measures to block trade deals with countries found to have committed genocide. The foreign secretary told MPs he rejected a cross-party amendment made by peers to the Trade Bill, describing it as “well-meaning” but also “rather ineffective and counter-productive”. The House of Lords changed the proposed […]