whatever possessed him?

apparently he said he could bring down the coalition " as a nuclear option", hence the picture.  But what struck me is that he said it to journalists posing as constituents.  It is not surprising that a LibDem would say one thing in one forum and another in another.  Pretty much all of them do that.  But whatever kind of system does he operate in his constituency?  A single-member system of elected representation as exists in England means that if someone is not your constituent you do not represent them.  If they approach you you may listen to them but you politely direct them to their own MP.  Unless you are Mr Salter, but that was a mental health issue, and whatever Vince Cable's problem is (possession by the devil?) it is not mental illness.  People often used to ring my office asking to come and see me at a surgery, and if they did not give their address they were asked for it, and if they lived outside the constituency they were politely directed to their own MP.  Occasionally people refused to give their address, and then they were politely told they could not be seen, unless there were special circumstances (someone living in a women's refuge, for instance, or a homeless person).  But sometimes of course people did just turn up, and they were not always constituents.  If I did not know them, had not heard from them before, and especially if they were not constituents, I was always very careful what I said to them.  Because they could be from the Guardian, or plants of some other kind.  Cable is an experienced politician, what was he thinking of?  Is it a LibDem gene?  Beats me.  I remember one person persistently sent me emails, rude and abusive ones, and identified themself only as "B".  I was patient for a while, simply asking for that person's address, but when it was not forthcoming I told the person to piss off and stop bothering me.  That email was sent, of course, to the Guardian diary.  I knew it would be.  So why did Vince Cable not see this one coming?  Hein?