TORY MPs want Vince Cable to be axed as Business Secretary

Politics

Source: Thesun.co.uk

TORY MPs want Vince Cable to be axed as Business Secretary

TORY MPs want Vince Cable to be axed as Business Secretary — to throw a lifeline to thousands of small firms.

Furious Conservatives see the veteran Lib Dem as a “roadblock” to reforming red tape and regulations on struggling businesses.

Now they are piling pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron to move him to another job in next week’s reshuffle.

Many Tories see ex-Lib Dem Cabinet minister David Laws as an acceptable alternative. Under the Coalition pact, Mr Cable could not be moved without the approval of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.

But relations between the two have soured in recent days after Lord Oakeshott — a close pal of Mr Cable’s — said the party should dump Mr Clegg as leader.

Senior Tory MP and Treasury committee member David Ruffley said: “Many of us are afraid that Vince Cable has become a roadblock to crucial economic reforms.

“We need fresh thinking in his department in order to help hundreds of thousands of small businesses.”

Tory backbencher Brian Binley, a member of the Commons business select committee, added: “It’s time for Vince to move on. He’s done nothing to cut red tape or the thousands of small firms who will drive the recovery.”

Another leading Tory, Nick de Bois, said: “We need someone at the head of the Business Department who wants to get Government off the backs of business. I don’t think Vince Cable shares that view.”

Mr Cable angered many Tories by opposing entrepreneur Adrian Beecroft’s blueprint to cut back employment laws for small companies.