LibDem activists adore Cable, and are incensed whenever Guido knocks him. Which is frequent because Guido has been calling him over-rated ever since he called for the nationalisation of Northern Rock.

This is a scandal of mammoth proportions. Here is a bank which relies on the taxpayer to bail it out if the going gets rough but which has offered Middle Eastern investors a much better deal than the banks are offering to the British taxpayer.

But, Vince, the taxpayer hasn’t bailed out BARC, that’s the point. No matter:

We have to ask why Barclays is willing to offer a better deal to foreign investors than the British taxpayer… The answer is simple: they don’t want the British Government stopping them from paying massive bonuses to their executives.

So apparently the LibDem Treasury spokesperson would rather the UK taxpayer was taking the risk here. Odd, because not so long ago, Cable was thundering on about the unbearable burden the taxpayer was being forced to bear. More than the other banks, Barclays operate a high-risk casino operation which makes the bank particularly unstable but which gives very rich pickings to the top executives. The British Government must not simply let this pass.

You heard it: only the mediocre will do. Too bad they’re otherwise engaged in the LibDem Treasury team.

Osborne was on all the news shows at lunchtime giving an interview outside the Treasury after his meeting with the chancellor – his message echoing Cameron’s speech this morning that the Tories would work with the government on legislation next week. Vince Cable has in response just done a waltz around the Westminster studios joining in with his own call for cross-party co-operation in the national interest – “We have to avoid getting caught up in narrow partisanship.”

The press releases sent from his office in the last 24 hours had a very different message:

“Gordon Brown’s response to the economic crisis has been too little, too late.”
“Conservatives don’t have a clue on the banking crisis”

This afternoon’s willingness to avoid point-scoring contrasts with the press release that arrived in Guido’s inbox from Cable at 10.23, just half an hour before Cameron’s hastily arranged emergency statement on the economy. In that press release Cable claimed only the LibDem’s plan would put money back in consumers pockets, cut energy bills, and stop home repossessions:

Gordon Brown and Labour can’t offer that. They got us into this mess. Now they are veering between complacency and panic. Dithering on key decisions, muddling along on half measures.

David Cameron and the Conservatives won’t offer it. At a time when those on the breadline are struggling more than for a generation, their top priority is tax cuts for millionaires.

…There is only one party in Britain today with a serious and credible plan ….

Politically astute operator that he is, Cable changed his tone pretty sharpish this afternoon as soon as he saw which way the wind was blowing….