Tory leader visits RAF Fairford

Tory leader visits RAF Fairford

Mr Duncan Smith toured Somerset on Tuesday

Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith is to visit RAF Fairford, temporary home to the US B-52 bombers which carried out air strikes on Iraq.

Mr Duncan Smith is to tour the Gloucestershire airbase, scene of several large anti-war demonstrations and a peace camp in recent weeks, on Wednesday.

A Conservative Party spokeswoman said he would be meeting service personnel and "showing support for the troops".

The visit to the airbase is to take place after a day in Gloucestershire meeting Tory candidates for the forthcoming local elections.

The Conservative leader was first expected to offer support to candidates in Tewkesbury, where he was also visiting the town's market.

Later in the day, he was due in Chipping Campden before travelling to Cirencester, for a walkabout in the town.

The visit to Gloucestershire follows a tour of Somerset yesterday, where Mr Duncan Smith met other local election candidates and the families of men and women serving in the Gulf at the Royal Naval Air Station in Yeovilton.