Cable 'nearly resigned' over BSkyB claim
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Your support makes all the difference.Vince Cable has revealed that he considered resigning from the Cabinet after he was recorded claiming he had "declared war" on Rupert Murdoch in remarks made to undercover reporters. The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary weighed up his future after revealing deep misgivings about some Coalition policies and boasting that he could "bring the government down" if he deployed the "nuclear option" of walking out.
Friends said Mr Cable was at a low point over the Christmas break but bounced back in the new year despite being stripped of responsibility for media regulation, including the decision on whether News Corporation should be allowed to buy the 61 per cent of shares in BSkyB it does not own. Allies say he is now "firing on all cylinders again".
"I certainly thought about it [resigning]", Mr Cable told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme yesterday. He said the people closest to him persuaded him not to quit.
He disclosed that Nick Clegg and David Cameron had wanted him to stay. "They wanted to keep me in the Government but they weren't happy about what had happened.
"So I had a brief discussion with them on the day but the rest of it was up to me to resolve."
The Business Secretary added: "I'm doing an important job at work, I think, and I think and hope that I will continue in it."
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