Saint Vince accused of sin of omission

Business secretary Vince Cable has been accused of omitting comments critical of the Conservatives from a speech delivered to business leaders in Scotland.

In a version of his address to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce published ahead of delivery, Cable claimed his party's presence in the Coalition was preventing the Tories from "behaving like they did" under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

The draft also recalled the "negative side of Thatcherism - the poll tax, mass unemployment and the claims that there was no such thing as society" and included a claim that Cable was "glad" the Conservatives have to share power at Westminster.

However, the business secretary left the comments out of the final speech.

Critics seized on the omissions, claiming Cable, a former Labour councillor in Glasgow turned Lib Dem big beast, had been gagged by his party leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

Labour's leader in Scotland Iain Gray said, "Clearly Nick Clegg tried to stop Vince Cable making this speech because it is an astonishing attack on his coalition partners."

Michael Russell of the Scottish National Party called the incident "a complete shambles".

The Lib Dems denied there had been any eleventh-hour intervention by Clegg, saying Cable is known for not sticking to a script.

The business secretary later said that he stood by the draft version of the speech.

In a separate interview with the BBC, Cable claimed his party are "making a very significant difference politically by restraining what a Tory government would have done on its own".

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