Speaking on Sky News yesterday, Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable said that the ex-chief secretary to the treasury David Laws could have remained in his government role despite the row over his expenses claims.
When asked whether if Mr Laws could have continued in his position, Mr Cable said:
“Well, he could have done because he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“And the mistake that was made, as David set out very clearly, was to protect privacy rather than for personal gain,”
Mr Cable continued by saying that Mr Laws wanted the matter “cleared up” and felt that his “personal upheaval” would have made continuing in the position difficult.
Mr Cable denied that the scandal had damaged the government in any way.
“It hasn’t damaged the coalition government. The coalition government will continue, we’ve got a good programme, we’ve got good people and David is being replaced.
“It certainly hasn’t damaged our party, and I don’t think it’s damaged politics as a whole.”
Mr Cable added that he would like to see Mr Laws return to government in the future.
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