Cable wins – but then nobody ganged up on him

Vince Cable ganged up on Alistair Darling once (bank lending levels) but on George Osborne twice again, over the banking tax and inheritance tax.

George Osborne was never going to have his best moment when IHT came up, and duly didn’t. I doubt Nick Clegg will let his “gang up” count get out of equilibrium too far when it comes to the leaders’ debates.

Worth remembering where people come from in all this… Vince Cable was Labour once.

It is probably Vince Cable who ended up man of the match. It helps that no-one initiates a gang-up on him. He has stuck to his under-stated style with that whiff of stern headmaster and he’s set a challenge to his own party leader to match the skill and firmness that he deployed here.

George Osborne and Alistair Darling will feel that they left with their reputations in the same state they were when they entered.

No hostage to fortune moments to replay through bulletins this morning. Our politicians get a lot more experience at the ding-dong debate than their American cousins, and tonight it showed.