Bitter IDS rounds on Tory malcontents

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith today stepped up his fightback against plotters out to remove him by denouncing them for running a "smear" campaign against him.

The embattled leader accused "irreconcilable malcontents" within his own ranks of dividing his party and "disgusting" voters.

His bitter attack came in the wake of fresh revelations in the "Betsygate" saga which has seen Commons watchdogs launch an investigation into claims that he wrongfully paid his wife £15,000 from taxpayers' funds.

Mr Duncan Smith faces potentially damaging evidence from the Tories' deputy director, Vanessa Gearson, 36, who worked in his office while his wife was receiving her salary. Dr Gearson has vowed to tell the truth to standards watchdog Sir Philip Mawer "whatever the cost." Former Tory chief executive Mark Macgregor is also expected to testify.

Although there is little likelihood of a strike by MPs aimed at ousting Mr Duncan Smith before Sir Philip's report, the atmosphere at

Westminster remained febrile today. Mr Duncan Smith, who was visiting Cornish fishermen in Looe, used an article in The Spectator to accuse his opponents of fighting Tony Blair's battles.

He wrote that they included " certain irreconcilable malcontents, the acolytes of former leadership contenders and their friends and allies in the media.

"Since I became leader, there have been determined and sustained attempts to undermine my position through a series of offtherecord briefings and smears, culminating this month in a highly offensive and inaccurate slur on the integrity of myself and my wife.

"I entirely repudiate not only the contents of such attacks but the spirit in which they are made.

"I deeply regret that the frustrated ambitions and grievances of this group, who would rather bring me down than see the Conservatives prosper, are hindering our activists, distracting the media and disgusting the public.

"It is time, and past time, that Conservative party pulled itself together and remembered the purpose of its existence."