Duncan Smith will lead us to 'political suicide' says Clarke

Iain Duncan Smith was accused of consigning the Tories to "electoral suicide" yesterday after he proposed deep cuts in public spending and a two-tier National Health Service.

With just over a week left in the Conservative leadership contest, the shadow Defence Secretary suggested state spending should be reduced to 35 per cent of GDP ­ equivalent to £20bn of cuts.

Mr Duncan Smith also revealed for the first time that his plans to reform the NHS would involve patients using their own cash to get faster treatment.

The Kenneth Clarke campaign seized on both policy announcements as proof of his rival's unelectability, claiming he was "spinning off into the dark twilight zone" of the right.

Mr Clarke's team also attacked Mr Duncan Smith's "laughable U-turn" on Section 28 after he said that he would now consider reforming the ban on promotion of homosexuality in schools.

However, it was Mr Duncan Smith's comments on cutting public spending and reforming the NHS that are guaranteed to trigger most controversy.

Speaking on BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme, he suggested it was his "aspiration" to reduce the current level of spending from 40 per cent of GDP to 35 per cent. "I have no set figure in my head, but I do recall John Major had a figure in his head of around 35 per cent. These are aspirations. What you try to say is, every nation that is successful tends to be a lower tax, lower spend nation," he said.

Similar claims in the last general election by Oliver Letwin, the shadow Chief Secretary, were ruthlessly exploited by Tony Blair to allege the Tories would slash spending on schools and hospitals.

On the NHS, Mr Duncan Smith admitted his plans for a "health credit" would mean patients dipping into their own pockets to pay for treatment.

"You set a waiting time of eight months and if the NHS can't do it in eight months, you take the credit for that and move it into the private sector," he said. "In other words, you guarantee that treatment will be delivered in that time. In the private sector, it will cost more, so they will have to top up with their own money or use some insurance scheme."

Mr Clarke's spokesman said: "This is electoral suicide. Five years before the next election, Duncan Smith is saying he will cut spending and force people to pay for NHS treatment."

Mr Duncan Smith defended his right-wing credentials and said Labour was "locked into a centrist agenda", but came under further criticism for changing his mind on reform of Section 28. He had previously opposed reform but yesterday said children had to be protected in a way that didn't "stigmatise" gays and lesbians.

Steve Norris, the party vice-chairman and a Clarke supporter, claimed Mr Duncan Smith's comments proved he was "deeply rattled" and needed to win votes of socially liberal Tories. He said: "You can't just pull policies off the shelf like library books and put them back a couple of weeks later.

"If half the people who have already voted for Iain Duncan Smith read this interview I imagine they'd be ringing [Tory] Central Office now asking for their ballot papers back."