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David Cameron plays down talk of a rift in the coalition Government after Business Secretary Vince Cable affirms his commitment to a “liberal” immigration agenda.

Never one to shy away from a political storm, Vince Cable has told the Financial Times that he favours “as liberal a policy as possible” over immigration and admitted that there was a “debate” in the Cabinet over the Government’s plans for a cap on non-EU immigration. “Downing Street aides . . . moved to quash suggestions of a rift” in the coalition, reported The Independent, while, speaking on the BBC’s Today Programme, David Cameron affirmed his commitment to a cap, denied any inter-governmental strife and remarked that it was “perfectly legitimate” for Cable to argue his case. “The immigration cap has also proved controversial in India, where Mr Cameron is currently promoting trade,” reported PoliticsHome. “Some Indian politicians have warned it could harm economic relations.”

Unsurprisingly, The Daily Mail did its best to whip up a storm over Cable’s comments. “Coalition at war on immigration,” bawled the headline. “Cable stokes revolt against Tory election pledge on strict limit.” The paper focused on Cable’s “warning” that the cap “could hit the economic recovery”, reported that Conservative MP David Willetts is “also believed to be skeptical” and seemed riled by David Cameron’s acceptance of a “debate” about the issue. “The row leaves Mr Cameron facing a divided Cabinet and a difficult summer when he returns to the UK,” said the Mail.

The Times reported on news that India is to be given “a direct say” in how the cap is implemented. “Thousands of Indian IT graduate staff are at the heart of the debate over Cameron’s cap,” wrote Alan Travis in The Guardian. Indian IT staff in Britain are currently exempt from the temporary cap introduced in June and due to be more permanently enshrined next April. “The numbers involved are not marginal,” said Travis, pointing to the 35,400 work permits issued to foreign IT workers to come to Britain in 2008. “This debate also strikes to the heart of the discussion inside the Tory party. Cameron has said that the cap should reduce net migration to ‘tens of thousands instead of hundreds of thousands’ . . . . The difference is these Indian IT workers which is why Cameron’s visit to Bangalore today has such impact at Westminster.”

“Why is Vince Cable kicking off about immigration?” asked Fraser Nelson in The Spectator. The answer: “to cause trouble”. Nelson derided Cable’s “ego” but he also described Cameron’s immigration pledge “as being radical to the point of unworkable. I don’t believe any minister has a clue about how we would more than halve net immigration”.