Awkward indeed: Iain Duncan Smith spent today’s meeting
with the man he tried to blame for the Universal Credit fiasco – DWP permanent
secretary Robert Devereux – sitting next to him. When Debbie Abrahams laid into
Mr… Smith with the words quoted in the article, Mr Devereux was staring directly
at him with an enormous smile on his face. [Image: Political
Scrapbook]
These were the words of Commons Work and Pensions committee member Debbie Abrahams to Secretary of State Iain Duncan Smith, just a quarter of the way through today’s (Monday) clash over Universal Credit and his Department for Work and Pensions’ appalling book-keeping.
Mr… Smith’s response typified the attitude that she was decrying. He said: “Well, I just don’t agree with you, and I don’t agree that we have done anything else but be open and honest about what the issues are, as and when they have been identified, and what we would do about them, as and when we had made our decisions about that.”
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