JUST as it seemed that incompetence in government could not get worse than the mess Britain's coalition is in over reform of the National Health Service, David Cameron has raised the issue of immigration numbers in a way that one of his ministers, the Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, found necessary to criticise openly as unwise yesterday. As Business Secretary Mr Cable has a policy interest in the number of immigrants to Britain from outside the European Union and he clearly believes that it should be more than the annual ten thousand mentioned by the prime minister.
However, this public disagreement is not just about figures. It is also about the divisive and potentially destructive way in which the coalition is being managed at the moment. When the coalition was formed its written agreement ducked precise figures on immigration because there were significant differences between the two parties and a fragile truce has been observed for the past year. Mr Cameron appears to have broken that truce with his very political speech on Wednesday and Mr Cable has found that unacceptable.
In almost immediate response the prime minister said: This is the policy of the whole government. This is Liberal Democrat policy. This policy is coalition policy. But is it? Nick Clegg's views are awaited with interest. Will Mr Cable resign?
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