IDS: I've done nothing wrong

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has told Westminster's standards watchdog he had done nothing wrong in employing his wife as a secretary.

Mr Duncan Smith handed Sir Philip Mawer a 40-page dossier denying he had made improper payments to his wife Betsy.

The move came after investigative journalist Michael Crick gave Sir Philip documents containing serious allegations about the way in which Mr Duncan Smith employed his wife on the parliamentary payroll from September 2001 to December of last year.

Mr Duncan Smith gave Sir Philip signed statements by himself, his wife and four people who worked for him during the period in question.

He said: "I totally reject claims that I was guilty of financial wrongdoing in the employment of my wife as a diary secretary after I became Conservative party leader."

Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram said he was confident Mr Duncan Smith has no case to answer.

Speaking outside Conservative Central Office tonight Mr Ancram said: "I have looked at the full statement he is making and I am satisfied everything that was done was within the rules of parliament."

Mr Ancram said "malevolent" forces were behind a campaign to undermine the Tory party leadership.

Most watched News videos