As if. A humbled and diminished Vince Cable was tonight allowed to cling on to his cabinet post as business secretary, but was stripped of all responsibility for media policy after it emerged he had told undercover reporters that he had "declared war" on Rupert Murdoch over the media magnate's plans to take over all of BSkyB.
Cable's reckless claims, in a secretly recorded conversation, were considered a flagrant breach of his duty to take a quasi-judicial approach to the proposed takeover, and were declared "totally unacceptable and inappropriate" by Downing Street. Many had expected an angry David Cameron to sack Cable or transfer him to a lesser cabinet role.
But instead the business secretary was hauled in front of his party leader, Nick Clegg, and then Cameron. After a series of emergency meetings, which included George Osborne, the chancellor, Clegg felt he could not afford to lose the second most senior Liberal Democrat from the government.
Nearly seventy civil servants responsible for all aspects of media and telecoms policy will now be transferred from Cable's business empire to the Department of Culture Media and Sport headed by Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary and a Conservative likely to be sympathetic to Murdoch.
What Vince Cable told Daily Telegraph reporters posing as Liberal Democrat activists, as revealed by Robert Peston
Cable I am picking my fights, some of which you may have seen, some of which you may haven't seen [sic]. And I don't know if you have been following what has been happening with the Murdoch press, where I have declared war on Mr Murdoch and I think we are going to win.
(Later) Well I did not politicise it, because it is a legal question. But he [Mr Murdoch] is trying to take over BSkyB – you probably know that.
Reporter I know vaguely.
Cable With considerably enhanced …
Reporter I always thought that he had BSkyB with Sky anyway?
Cable No, he has minority shares and he wants a majority – and a majority control would give them a massive stake. I have blocked it using the powers that I have got and they are legal powers that I have got.
I can't politicise it but from the people that know what is happening this is a big, big thing. His whole empire is now under attack … so there are things like that we do in government, that we can't do … all we can do in opposition is protest.
What Vince Cable told Daily Telegraph reporters posing as Liberal Democrat activists, as revealed by Robert Peston
Cable I am picking my fights, some of which you may have seen, some of which you may haven't seen [sic]. And I don't know if you have been following what has been happening with the Murdoch press, where I have declared war on Mr Murdoch and I think we are going to win.
(Later) Well I did not politicise it, because it is a legal question. But he [Mr Murdoch] is trying to take over BSkyB – you probably know that.
Reporter I know vaguely.
Cable With considerably enhanced …
Reporter I always thought that he had BSkyB with Sky anyway?
Cable No, he has minority shares and he wants a majority – and a majority control would give them a massive stake. I have blocked it using the powers that I have got and they are legal powers that I have got.
I can't politicise it but from the people that know what is happening this is a big, big thing. His whole empire is now under attack … so there are things like that we do in government, that we can't do … all we can do in opposition is protest.
