Newsnight
reveals inaccuracies in Iain Duncan Smith's CV
Aspects
of Iain Duncan Smith's CV, relating to his education, are inaccurate
and misleading, an investigation by BBC Newsnight reveals.
The
investigation into the Conservative Party leader's education and
early career - broadcast at 10.30pm on BBC TWO last night (Wednesday
18 December 2002) - was presented by Michael Crick, author of the
best-selling biography of Jeffrey Archer.
If
any of the following material is used BBC Newsnight must be credited.
The
University of Perugia
Iain
Duncan Smith's biography on the Conservative Party website, his
entry in Who's Who, and various other places, state that he went
to the Universita di Perugia in Italy.
This
is not true: his office now admit that he went to the Universita
per Stranieri, which is also in Perugia.
The
Universita per Stranieri - or University for Foreigners - was founded
in 1921 and is a totally separate institution to the medieval Universita
di Perugia, founded by the Pope in 1308.
Although
the Universita per Stranieri is a respected language school, it
did not grant degrees when he studied there in 1973, although some
students attained diplomas.
Mr
Duncan Smith's office has now admitted to Newsnight that he didn't
get any qualifications in Perugia or even finish his exams.
Dunchurch
College of Management
The
first line of Iain Duncan Smith's biography, on the Conservative
Party website, claims he was
"educated at Dunchurch College of Management".
In
fact, Dunchurch was the former staff college for GEC Marconi, for
whom he worked in the 1980s.
Mr
Duncan Smith's office has now confirmed to Newsnight that he did
not get any qualifications there either, but that he completed six
separate courses lasting a few days each, adding up to about a month
in total.
Newsnight
has now spoken to 19 former tutors at Dunchurch. Most agree it is
over-emphasising his experience at Dunchurch to describe it in the
way he does.
John
Garside, a former Dunchurch tutor, says: "I'm puzzled, flattered,
but puzzled. What we did was offer short courses... it was not a
continuous form of education by any means."
Newsnight
has shown these details to some of Iain Duncan Smith's constituents
in Chingford.
Several
people assumed he must have been at both the University of Perugia
and Dunchurch for several years, and obtained qualifications in
either or both places.
Notes
to Editors
The
Conservative Party website page can be found at: http://www.conservatives.com/iainduncansmith/biography.cfm
The
BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
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