Cameron & Clegg Defuse Coalition Crisis Caused by Cable

Leaders of the UK's ruling parties are now insisting the coalition government is working effectively.

As our London correspondent Tu Yun reports, the comments come as both David Cameron and Nick Clegg try to ease a growing the coalition crisis sparked by Business Secretary Vince Cable, whose actions are now threatening to bring down the coalition, after being secretly recorded by undercover journalists. CRI London correspondent Tu Yun has more.

At their last joint press conference of this year, Cameron and Clegg have taken time to try to summarize what the coalition government has done since taking office in May.

"All our work on the economy, sorting out public finances, boosting enterprise, all of this has only been possible through the strength of this coalition. I believe this coalition is working well. It's working for Britain. And I think we can build on that success in the months and years ahead."

"We know the year ahead and years after that, they won't always be easy. But we believe our decisions will stand the test of time. And we're on course to fix the economy while building a better country."

But despite their efforts, after their briefing, the media remained focused on questions centered around the Business Secretary.

"Prime Minister, how much this morning do you trust Vince Cable? And Deputy Prime Minister, can you give us a sense of how important Vince Cable is within the coalition?"

"Prime Minister, first of all, did Vince Cable offer to resign? ... Can you really keep him in your cabinet?"

"Can I also ask Prime Minister, have you got satisfied that Mr. Cable, who's in an important position, makes ministerial decisions based on his own judgment?"

The controversy surrounds comments Vince Cable made to undercover journalists in his constituency.

Cable, a senior member of the Liberal Democrats, is quoted as saying he could use the "nuclear option" by leaving government and bringing the coalition down if pushed too far by the Conservatives.

His comments came as he suggested reforms in the public sector are risking running out of control.

Cable also has reportedly said he has "declared war" on media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, referring to the latter's bid to take over UK broadcaster BSkyB.

Since the revelation, Cable has become the prime target of the opposition Labour party. Despite the furor surrounding him, both Cameron and Clegg are so far standing behind their embattled Business Secretary.

"In a coalition, you do have private disagreements on policy. If we all agree, we'll be in the same party. We're not. We have to work these things out. And Vince actually has been very constructive on issues like the economy and agenda of reducing public spending. Vince has been incredibly engaged in that on the issue of higher education, which has been difficult for all parties to get this right."

"Vince is a close colleague, a close friend. I'm not in the slightest bit embarrassed that Vince is a prominent senior member of this government. He himself has said he was embarrassed by the comments that he was recorded to say. And I can totally understand why he was. End of story."

Though Labor is calling on Cable to resign, speculation is that he will stay in the cabinet. However, a new statement from Number 10 Downing says that Cable will no longer be allowed any role in the decision as to whether to award the BskyB licence to Murdoch.

For his part, Cable has issued a statement saying he fully accepts the decision by the Prime Minister's office, and has also apologized for the embarrassment he caused the government.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun, reporting from London.