This senior Lib Dem Cabinet Minister is beginning to look fragile. It is hard to tell if the complaints that are coming in to various authorities about him are genuinely expressed anxieties or part of a vendetta by some injured party. Huhne himself is confident of his innocence, yet inquiries continue. This all has to be sorted out.

The present national circumstances are not those which admit in government Ministers under investigation or distracted by some private personal discord. In times past these things were conducted in private and none was any the wiser, so we do not know who got away with what. With modern on line technology when everyone can find out everything, the private life of public figures has to be blameless, even saintly. This may be a good or bad thing. No matter. It is how it is. It is therefore evident that Chris Huhne may not be able to continue in government for long, unless these accusations can be quickly shown to be mistaken. What then for the coalition?

It may be possible to bring back David Laws, now punished for his wrongdoing, whose talent would be welcome. Yet could Cameron do that so soon, especially as his misbehaviour was over the vexed issue of expenses, about which the public are generally unforgiving? Is it absolutely essential, if Huhne goes, to replace him with a Lib Dem? Could Cameron appoint a Tory, on the grounds that his partners had screwed up twice and he had had enough? Or could the job go to Clegg, so that he had a department to run, rather than the novelty job of Deputy PM which does not exist in our Constitution. Critical in WWII when held by Attlee, holders since including Heseltine, Howe and Prescott have had little relevance other than as a sop for loyalty. Indeed Howe did not play ball. He shattered Margaret Thatcher’s invincible hold on power with a single speech about broken cricket bats.

If anything happens (at present we cannot know the chances, but for Huhne they are not good) one thing is for sure. This coalition is a lot shakier than a year ago. We may be closer to Confidence and Supply than we think.