So much for impartiality! Tory minister Ian Duncan Smith insists Romney is 'not stupid' and warns Obama's economic recovery is fueled by debt

• Work and Pensions Secretary breaks with the convention of British ministers not commenting on foreign elections
• He leaps to the defence of the Republican challenger and points out US debt has risen under Obama
• With less than 48 hours to go, the result is too close to call

Iain Duncan Smith said Barack Obama's White House had seen the national debt rise from $500billion to $1.3trillion

Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith appears to have taken sides in the US election, less than 48 hours before Americans go to the polls.

In an apparent break with impartiality before polling day, the senior Conservative defended Republican Mitt Romney from claims he is ‘stupid’ while warning Democrat Barack Obama’s economic strategy had created a ‘very worrying picture indeed’.

The comments from a senior member of the UK government less than two days before voting takes place are likely to raise eyebrows on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Conservatives are aligned to the Republicans, but David Cameron has played up his relationship with Mr Obama who remains hugely popular in the UK.
British ministers of all parties have traditionally avoided commenting on foreign elections, because their government will have to work with whoever wins, particularly when the result is too close to call.

But Mr Duncan Smith used a radio interview to hit out at the ‘appalling demonisation’ of Mr Romney while warning Mr Obama’s presidency had seen the US deficit had rise ‘gone from something like $500billion to $1.3trillion or so’.
However, Downing Street today appeared to distance itself from the remarks.
Asked whether David Cameron shared Mr Duncan Smith's concerns, the Prime Minister's official spokesman told a regular Westminster media briefing: ‘I don't think it is appropriate for me to be commenting on the US and the US economy and the record over the last few years this week.’

Mr Duncan Smith insisted he did not know Mr Romney personally, and was not necessarily a ‘fan’.

But the Work and Pensions Secretary told BBC Radio 5Live: ‘The demonisation of Mitt Romney over here has been appalling really. He may have faults. All politicians have faults. But this is a guy who ran a state very well.

‘He got their debts and deficit down. He's turned around businesses. Whatever else you may say about him, he is not stupid, and he is made out to be stupid over here.’

David Cameron has garnered positive publicity from his relationship with Barack Obama including hosting a Downing Street barbecue in May last year

Mr Romney’s visit to the UK this summer was dominated by gaffes, including questioning preparations for the Olympics saying it was ‘hard to know just how well it will turn out’.

He also described ‘looking out of the backside of 10 Downing Street’ and referred to Ed Miliband as ‘Mr Leader’.

Mr Romney faced fifficult questions when he visited Downing Street in July

But Mr Duncan Smith blamed the British media: ‘I think sometimes our reporting ... particularly the print media have tended to convey a very shallow two-dimensional fight.
‘The American election has been appallingly reported, I think, in the UK. It has been misrepresented, the whole nature of it.’

He went on to cast doubt about on Mr Obama’s attempts to turn the US economy around by borrowing more money.

‘We don't want the American economy to go off the edge of a cliff, but at the same time, we can't sustain the level of debt that America is piling up with its increased deficits.

‘The present administration, they've gone from something like $500billion to $1.3trillion or so, so there comes a moment when these have to be paid back.
'So while we want America to grow, we also don't want it to grow though on just simply stacked up borrowed debt.’

Highlighting the importance of an American recovery to Britain's prospects, Mr Duncan Smith said: ‘The fact that it (the US economy) hasn't bounced back from this recession, arguably for the first time since the war, makes it a very worrying picture indeed - with unemployment really historically very high in the US and really not a lot of serious new economic activity taking place.’