Oh dear! This is not good. Fights between government and opposition are a required part of the Constitution, but public fights among members of the Cabinet are a no no. We have to remember that this is a coalition government, so we are told, and they may not always see eye to eye. Perhaps not, but they have to be reminded they are a government, they have agreed a plan, they have to find consensus and they have to behave.
At the heart of the matter is the foolhardy adoption of fixed term parliaments; an arrangement utterly unsuited to our vague unwritten Constitution, in which the powers of an absolute monarch are administered by a sovereign parliament, only one House of which is elected. All can now see this government has run out of steam, as we face a wasted year of election campaigning.
Before the change was made as part of the Coalition Agreement, general elections could be called by the prime minister whenever, but usually at about four years. Since 1950 only three governments have run the full five year term; 1964, 1979 and 1997. Each time the governing party was beaten. The British do not like governments to go on and on.