Lib Dem Oakeshott row: 'A time for sober reflection'

Lord Oakeshott has quit the Lib Dems with a warning the party is "heading for disaster" under Nick Clegg.

He quit after it emerged he commissioned polls suggesting the party would do better without the deputy prime minister in charge.

Speaking to the BBC, Mark Hunter, deputy chief whip for the Lib Dems, said that it was a "time for sober reflection" but dismissed the idea that Vince Cable had a case to answer.

Mr Cable has distanced himself from the polls but Lord Oakeshott suggested that he had told Mr Cable about the findings "several weeks ago".