Tories turn on Cameron over his 'propping up' Lib Dem allies

The Prime Minister faced questions yesterday about why Mr Cable, the second most senior Lib Dem Minister, had survived despite his embarrassing comments to undercover reporters.

Mr Cable was humiliatingly stripped of his responsibilities for the media after he claimed to have "declared war" on Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

Senior Tory MP Christopher Chope, the secretary of the influential backbench 1922 Committee, said Mr Cable should have been sacked for his comments.

"When we get into the new year, the Prime Minister will have to assess whether propping up the Liberal Democrats is in the long-term best interests of the Conservative Party and the country," he said.

"Sometimes it can be more damaging to hang on to somebody, because it's a sign of weakness, rather than take the robust line and say the man's got to go."

Sir Christopher accused Lib Dem Ministers of "having it both ways".

"They want to be able to support the Government for the sake of keeping the Liberal Democrats in government and keeping their own Ministerial cars, but then they want to be able to say to their supporters outside 'Don't worry, I wasn't in support of that at all, I am rather against it.'

"You can't carry on like that as a Minister because you are effectively undermining your own Government."

John Whittingdale, another senior Conservative backbencher, said Mr Cable would "almost certainly" have been sacked if he was a Tory Minister.

Their comments came amid fresh disclosures that Liberal Democrat Ministers had privately criticised coalition policies.

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore, Business Minister Ed Davey and Pensions Minister Steve Webb were caught on tape by undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph speaking out against a range of Government positions.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said their comments had exposed the "sham" of coalition politics, with Lib Dem Ministers saying one thing in public and something very different in private.

And he added it was clear that "the cracks are starting to widen" in the coalition ranks.

But, while the Prime Minister described the Business Secretary's comments as "unacceptable", he insisted he had taken the "right action" in response.

"I acted swiftly and I think I acted correctly," he added.

Questioned about the Labour's leader description of the coalition as a "sham", Mr Cameron replied: "I think he's wrong. I think just sniping from the sidelines is not constructive."

"Of course coalitions have their difficulties and their tensions," he added.

"I would say look at the bigger picture – this Government is delivering in terms of the real problems the country faces."

While Mr Cable keeps his job, his responsibilities for media regulation were passed to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who will now have to arbitrate on the bid by Mr Murdoch's News Corp to take a majority stake in the broadcaster BSkyB.

Labour questioned whether Mr Cable had broken the Ministerial code and whether Mr Hunt was a "fit and proper person" to handle the case after reportedly praising Mr Murdoch and saying that the News Corp bid did not represent a "substantial change".

Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell said he was satisfied Mr Hunt had not pre-judged the BSkyB takeover and revealed that he had taken legal advice before sanctioning the shift in Ministerial responsibilities on Tuesday.

But Shadow Business Secretary John Denham said there were still unanswered questions about both Mr Cable and Mr Hunt.

"It is not just a question of ensuring decisions are taken properly but also making sure that they are seen to be taken properly.

"The Cabinet Secretary's letter makes clear that there was so much doubt about Jeremy Hunt's suitability for this role that they were forced to consult top lawyers.

"It is very hard to see how any decision Jeremy Hunt makes will enjoy complete confidence."

In the latest disclosures, Mr Moore was quoted as describing the increase in tuition fees as "the biggest, ugliest, most horrific thing in all of this, a car crash, a train wreck". Mr Webb expressed "worries" about the child benefit cut and Mr Davey said the change had come "out of the blue" at the Conservative Party conference and could have been done in "a rather fairer way" if there had been more consultation.

He also said that plans to limit housing benefit would hit some of the poorest in society.

Mr Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, was campaigning yesterday in Oldham ahead of January's by-election as he sought to play down the comments by his fellow Lib Dems. He said the reports were not surprising and there were differences of opinion in a coalition, "as there are indeed in all governments.

Shares rise on back of blunder

BSkyB shares leapt yesterday as experts said Vince Cable's embarrassing own goal increased News Corp's chances of gaining clearance for its Sky takeover.

Shares in the broadcasting giant rose 14.5p to close at 743p – their highest level since Rupert Murdoch's company launched his bid in June – after Investec Securities said the probability of it getting approval to acquire the remaining 61 per cent of BSkyB it does not already own had risen from 66 per cent to 90 per cent.

Investec's media analyst Steve Liechti said: "Given that, in our view, Sky is likely to appeal or litigate any adverse opinion into the ground now, we move our probability of take-over to 90 per cent."

News of Mr Murdoch's bid for Sky in June had already sent the group's shares soaring - hitting their highest level since February 2004 in recent weeks.