SENIOR Liberal Democrat Vince Cable caused profound embarrassment to the coalition government yesterday after telling undercover reporters he had "declared war" on media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Mr Cable, who is the Business Secretary, was due to rule on Mr Murdoch's bid to incorporate BSkyB fully into the NewsCorp organisation.
But Mr Cable has now had this decision taken out of his remit after the revelations to Daily Telegraph journalists posing as members of the public.
The ruling on whether Mr Murdoch can increase his current 39% share will instead be made by Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Jeremy Hunt following a recommendation by Ofcom.
Mr Cable's comments [full transcript here] clearly showed his fears that giving Mr Murdoch full control would affect the output of Sky News and its associated channels.
He has a point - Mr Murdoch's Fox News in the US has increasingly become a platform for little more than propaganda shows of right-wing buffoons.
But Mr Cable has also shown naivety in revealing his opposition so readily when he was meant to be impartial and decide the case upon its merits.
Prime Minister David Cameron was furious and said Mr Cable's comments were "totally unacceptable and inappropriate". The PM has consequently seriously weakened the Business Secretary's portfolio.
Indeed, the decision to strip the Business Secretary of the power to rule on Mr Murdoch was described by BBC political editor Nick Robinson as a "humiliating slap in the face".
However, it could have been a lot worse for the Twickenham MP. He is fortunate still to be on the front bench at all.
For Mr Cable also revealed to the reporters that he could "bring the government down" if he resigned but that this was a "nuclear option" which he was keeping as a last resort.
Certainly, Mr Cameron's decision to retain Mr Cable in the Cabinet caused murmurs of consternation among Conservative MPs who feel they would have faced harsher treatment.
Labour leader Ed Miliband also agreed Mr Cameron had copped out by confirming that he would have sacked the Business Secretary.
But Mr Cameron is well aware of the importance of keeping dissenting Lib Dems on side in the coalition especially in the wake of last week's narrow tuition fee vote victory.
In fact, the Prime Minister may have played a clever political game by removing media regulation from Mr Cable's portfolio, leaving him effectively as the glorified Secretary for Tuition Fees.
Of course, it is the rise in tuition fees which has had the Lib Dems in all sorts of bother. At odds with the public after their pre-election pledge to the contrary, the party has sunk to single figures in most of the polls.
Inside the House of Commons, Mr Cable lost the support of 21 Lib Dems while another six abstained.
It is unclear whether Mr Cable was in fact closer to those grassroots than you would believe given that the tuition fee rise was a measure tabled by himself.
Some of his comments on government policy certainly suggest he is closer to the backbenches than the Cabinet.
For example, the Daily Telegraph also report he criticised the way in which Child Benefit was withdrawn from higher earners as "cack-handed".
For now, though, Mr Cable, as a minister, must continue to toe the coalition line publicly under the constitutional convention of collective responsibility.
But you can only imagine the frosty reception he may receive in the first Cabinet meeting back after the Christmas break.
The breaking point has never been closer but, following Mr Cable's apology, it seems as if the government will stagger on for a few months yet.
However, if the Lib Dems perform as badly as expected in May's local elections and/or if the referendum on the alternative vote is lost, the coalition will be back under serious pressure.
Will Mr Cable, surely aggrieved at his effective demotion, choose that moment to deploy his "nuclear option"? If it came to it, Mr Cable would be wise to be bold and trust his instincts.
Better to make a serious attempt to bring down the government and fail than make a pathetic attempt like Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt's undermining of Gordon Brown.
For now, Mr Cable has opted to sit tight - or, more accurately, he has been allowed to remain in situ by the PM.
But, in a weakened position, this coalition appears to be some sort of political purgatory for him and he seems to be an unhappy man, despite his denials at the Lib Dem conference in September.
It feels only a matter of time until he cracks again and hits his own big red button to send the government spiralling into panic.
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