Vince Cable’s discomfort is shared by the coalition

The trouble with holding a ministerial debate in public is that, when it comes to the crunch, it’s obvious who the winners and losers are. So it is with Vince Cable and higher education funding. A couple of months ago, the business secretary tap-danced onto the stage with a (problematic) plan for a new graduate tax. Now, it seems clear that the Browne Review will reject his advice (£) in favour of increasing tuition fees. And so Cable has had to send out an excruciating email explaining why a graduate tax was never really a good idea in the first place. After the flip comes the flop, so to speak.

But this isn’t just about Cable’s embarrassment. Before the last election, the Lib Dems pledged never to increase tuition fees – but now they are part of a government which may do just that. This puts them at a fork in the road: do they abstain from any vote to increase tuition fees, as suggested in the coalition