Minister must go says Duncan Smith

Opposition leader Iain Duncan Smith said it was clear that Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon should go after the critical Parliamentary inquiry report

He said: "It is absolutely clear that Geoff Hoon's position is quite untenable. Either he should resign or the Prime Minister should dismiss him at once.

"I think this report is a damning report of the Secretary of State. The committee has accused him of misleading and withholding information."

He went on: "My concern right now is that we have troops in Iraq whose lives are at risk under the authority of the Secretary of State. His career is hanging in the wind and it is an untenable position. Geoff Hoon has got to go, I'm afraid."

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw later insisted that Mr Hoon had the backing of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, adding: "I am in no doubt that the Defence Secretary should and will continue in his post."

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said that Mr Blair continued to have confidence in Mr Hoon.

The spokesman told the daily briefing of Westminster political journalists: "He (Mr Blair) has full confidence in Geoff Hoon for the reasons he set out at Prime Minister's questions.

"Geoff Hoon was a secretary of state at an important moment for this country when we went into military conflict against Iraq, a conflict that was very successful.

"He continues to do an effective job with the difficult reconstruction and security issues that the coalition is facing in Iraq at the moment."

The spokesman said Mr Hoon would have some comments to make in relation to some of the criticisms in the ISC report when he opens a defence debate in the House of Commons this afternoon.

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