My friend Toby Helm has a fascinating tale in the Observer (btw thanks for the generous blog plug, mate). The headline reads: “Treasury calls in Cable for talks on a hung parliament”, and the story reveals that Vince Cable is “ready to serve” as Chancellor. Mr Cable claims the Treasury and its permanent secretary Sir Nicholas Macpherson are now “taking seriously” what the Lib Dems have to say and wanted to hear what Mr Cable would do if he was invited to fill his own red box. “He didn’t say to me ‘yes minister but you can’t do that’,” he’s quoted as saying. Mr Cable has quite cleverly given the impression that the Treasury, impressed by his dominance of the economic scene, has set a new convention (he claims, slyly, that he was unaware of such meetings happening before) by inviting the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman in to hear his views. If true, that would be quite a turn up for the books. If true.  Except it’s not. It turns out the meeting was his idea, he asked for it, and it was granted out of courtesy. And it lasted 20 minutes. So, far from being summoned in for detailed talks, he invited himself in and was given a polite hearing. The Treasury, fair to say, is shaking its head in rueful admiration at Mr Cable’s chutzpah: “Extraordinary what he made of a 20 minute meeting set up at his request.” In fairness to him, he doesn’t appear to have claimed it was a Treasury invite, but presented with a chance, he’s grabbed it. Of course, what he’s also done is locked himself in to the age of austerity and cuts. Weeks from now, if he gets his wish, he will be presiding over a programme of eye-watering retrenchment that will make the Lib Dems weep. Be careful what you wish for etc.
Benedict Brogan is the Daily Telegraph's Deputy Editor. His blog brings you news, gossip, analysis and occasional insight into politics, and more. You can find his weekly columns <a href='http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/benedict-brogan/'>here</a> and you can email him at <a href='mailto:benedict.brogan@telegraph.co.uk'>benedict.brogan@telegraph.co.uk</a>.