School of Politics and International Relations

Professor Tim Bale, Cameron seeks to quell party feud over welfare and EU

21 March 2016

 

Associated Press reports on David Cameron’s attempts to unite a warring Conservative Party, after Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith resigned and accused the Treasury of targeting society's poorest people with welfare cuts – a move which blew the top off simmering divisions over government priorities, and the European Union. Professor Tim Bale said Duncan Smith's move would bolster the "out" campaign in the EU referendum. "I think it reinforces the public view that David Cameron and George Osborne appear to be disconnected from public opinion," he said. He said it gave the impression that the government did not care about the working poor, "because they don't vote for us."
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