Assorted LibDem-ery

Alastair Campbell is right on two counts.  First, that this snippet from George Parker’s Budget preview is pretty fascinating:

“Senior Lib Dems whisper that Vince Cable, the Lib Dem business secretary, never really believed his pre-election rhetoric that cuts should be delayed until 2011.”

And, second, that the claim about Cable is downright unbelievable.  I mean, this is the man who attacked Tory spending plans at every opportunity he could, and more venomously than any of his colleagues.  The man, indeed, who pushed the line that “the economy will be plunged back into prolonged recession” as a result of early cuts.  And the man who, by many behind-the-scenes accounts, encouraged his party to adopt the Not This Year stance in the first place.  Hm, doesn’t quite add up.

But it does inspire the question, why?  Are Vince’s enemies looking to embarrass and discredit him?  Or are his friends looking to rewrite the history books to suggest that he always wanted to do the right thing?  Either way, another sign, however modest, of Cable’s potential to destabilise the coalition.