Vince Cable interviewed in the Observer

The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary shows why he one of the most popular politicians in the country in this interview from today's Observer:

Unlike most politicians, he has few airs and graces and rarely resorts to defensive obfuscation. He sees an interview as an exercise in which a journalist puts questions and he answers them. 

So when asked if Britain's economy might endure a Japanese-style "lost decade", he admits it might well. "There is a real worry about [that], a real risk of that," he says. At every turn he is disarmingly frank. Most ministers would run for safety if asked whether the economy could be heading for a "triple dip" recession but Cable takes the question head on. "Well, there is certainly a risk," he says without the slightest hesitation. "I always try not to get drawn into forecasting arguments [but] there clearly is a risk. The most likely outcome is that we continue bumping along the bottom." ... 

After an hour, Cable remembers that he has failed to read out a glowing script he had prepared. A piece of paper lies ignored on the floor. "I haven't given you my speech yet on all the wonderful things I've done," he says, before donning a cycle helmet and heading off to a constituency surgery in the freezing cold.