Vince Cable to stay on as Business Secretary

[tabatha]

Business Secretary Vince Cable will stay in cabinet despite "declaring war" on Rupert Murdoch, says Downing Street.

But he will be stripped of his powers to rule on Mr Murdoch's bid to take control of BSkyB, which will be handed to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Downing Street said David Cameron believed Mr Cable's comments about Mr Murdoch were "totally unacceptable and inappropriate".

Labour said Mr Cable was a "lame duck" with "no credibilty".

BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson said Downing Street's statement was a "humiliating slap in the face" for Mr Cable and although he had kept his job he was still in a "very awkward" position, with questions over his judgement after telling "complete strangers" highly sensitive political information.

Nick Robinson said some Tory MPs would be questioning whether Mr Cable - who is seen as a key figure in holding the coalition together - would have been "out on his ear" if he had been a member of their party.

In a statement, a Downing Street spokesman said: "Following comments made by Vince Cable to the Daily Telegraph, the prime minister has decided that he will play no further part in the decision over News Corporation's proposed takeover of BSkyB.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12053656

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. To stay on...for now.

I'd look for David Laws to replace him after the resolution of Laws' expenses issues with the Parliamentary enquiry committee. Which is not really a good thing; Laws is on the right of the Lib Dems, like Clegg. The loss of a left-leaning Lib Dem voice in the Cabinet is a bad thing for the Lib Dems; it might as well be a Tory cabinet then, and the Lib Dems have been bleeding support anyway (a recent poll has them on 9%). The fallout from this in the long run may be to provide a wedge that splits the Lib Dems with the left disillusioned and the right in the persons of Messrs Clegg et al deciding to drop the pretence and cross the aisle to the Tories (or alternately disaffected left-leaning Liberals crossing the aisle to Labour).

I hope that Clegg thinks his Faustian bargain to go into coalition was worth it, anyway.