Free Republic

Iain Duncan Smith has threatened to resign from the Conservative Party and sit as an independent MP, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. Mr Duncan Smith, still bitter about being forced to resign the leadership in October 2003, told colleagues that he will take the extraordinary step if two people he blames particularly for his downfall are allowed to stand as Tories at the next election. Vanessa Gearson and Mark MacGregor played leading roles in the "Betsygate" affair which saw Mr Duncan Smith accused of sanctioning improper payments to his wife. Both fought last May's election unsuccessfully and are understood to...

Lawmakers Attack Blair Over Iraq Warning Lawmakers Attack Blair for Going to War With Iraq Despite Signal It Would Increase Terror Threat The Associated Press LONDON Sept. 12 — Opposition lawmakers and the media attacked Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday for failing to disclose an intelligence warning that said the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime could help terrorists obtain chemical or biological weapons.Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith called on Blair to explain why he chose to go to war despite the warning by Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee, made a month before the invasion. "Tony Blair was entitled to...