At last, Lib Dems have reasons to be cheerful. (Buckingham Liberal Democrats)

Buckingham Liberal Democrats <info@buckinghamlibdems.org.uk>

At last, Lib Dems have reasons to be cheerful.

July 31, 2011 11:17 AM

Vince Cable At the end of the Parliamentary "term" Lib Dems have reasons to be cheerful.

We endured a torrid passage over student fees, and lost the AV referendum.

But we reined the Conservatives in over the NHS reforms, immigration and tax cuts.

And, best news of all, Vince Cable is back. Eight months after he was humiliated in a sting by the Telegraph, he emerged from the Murdoch hacking debacle with his reputation restored. [This article is based on an interview with Dr Cable in today's Independent on Sunday, July 31st.]

On the economy, he believes it is now time for additional radical measures to stimulate growth. "And the reinvigorated 68-year-old thinks he can win this new battle." Dr Cable believes the coalition should be doing more. "Multibillion-pound building projects - from road and rail schemes to power plants and super-fast broadband - could be fast-tracked to provide an injection of cash and jobs to industry."

He took a principled stand on other issues, and won, said the Independent. "He successfully stood up to the PM "over immigration, tax-cutting Tories, casino bankers and lazy universities. And Rupert Murdoch, of course. Having declared war on the media tycoon last Christmas when boasting to covert reporters from The Telegraph, he feels vindicated by the events of recent weeks.

"Mr Cable is not triumphalist about the spectacle of the Murdoch empire crumbling, but takes time to point out that his instincts were right and they are shared by the majority of people". He says it "looks like" Murdoch's days as an overbearing media mogul are over.

"We have come out of that, as a party, creditably, because we were never part of the sucking-up to Murdoch that happened with the other two parties, for their own reasons. We were often on the receiving end, but we never compromised. We maintained our independence and that's what we are proud of."

The Business Secretary believes the Lib Dems have four years to prove their "economic competence" and brace themselves for another onslaught from the Tories as well as Labour. While Nick Clegg has taken a "terrible pounding", he has "shown strength of character" and the party as a whole remains strong. "There is not going to be any great bloodletting or calls for leadership change."