Sorry, Danny Finkelstein, but you didn’t change Iain Duncan Smith’s career

A few years back, Mr Steerpike wrote a blog entitled ‘How Danny Finkelstein botched the reshuffle‘ – revealing how those around Iain Duncan Smith were furious to see his future in an expected reshuffle being discussed on Newsnight by the Fink. Our joke: that IDS might well have moved to the Justice department has he not heard the Fink talking about the move as if it were a done deal. Today, in his Times column, Lord Finkelstein repeats this story – except he upgrades it from joke to fact.

‘If it wasn’t for me, Iain Duncan Smith wouldn’t have resigned last week as work and pensions secretary,’ he announces to his readers. ‘This isn’t some cute newspaper column introduction in which you learn later that I had nothing to do with it. I mean it’.  He then retells the story:

‘Knowing me to be a friend of the chancellor, he leapt to the conclusion that my appearance and knowledge of the offer was part of some plot against him.