There we have it. After all the frenzy in Westminster this afternoon, Vince Cable is
simply staying put as Business Secretary. But he does
not stand unchastised. All his responsibilities for media competition – and that includes telecoms and digital, as well as television and print – will be transferred over to Jeremy
Hunt. Which means that Cable’s war against Rupert Murdoch has ended before Christmas. At least he still has his nuclear
option, I suppose.
Many will say that Cable got off lightly – and they’d be right. Putting aside the Business Secretary’s suitability to arbitrate over the Murdoch case, his judgement has been stripped and revealed as faulty today. Yes, he fell prey to journalists pretending to be something they weren’t. But to talk quite so candidly to people whom – whoever they were – he had only just met? It is a set-up that would have forced other ministers onto the backbenches.
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