Rescue mission
DAVID Cameron and Nick Clegg likened their coalition to "a rescue mission" yesterday as they revealed the phrase that best epitomises their Government, and the economic crisis they inherited. They now need to apply those words to Vince Cable, whose denouncement of so many coalition policies, while also launching a personal "war" against Rupert Murdoch's empire, could so undermine the Government.
As Tony Blair and Gordon Brown discovered, there should be no place in government for 'freelance operators' – the notion of collective responsibility stands and will be critical as the coalition pushes through its spending cuts and, in the Business Secretary's case, quasi-judicial decisions which require impartiality.
While the coalition, under two parties, appears to be far more united than Labour ever was under Messrs Blair and Brown, the Minister once known as 'St Vince' should remember that no individual is bigger than the Government. He now has to decide whether he wants to be a serious politician, or put his dancing career first. Either way, he cannot afford any more slip-ups.