This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6224862.stm
The article has changed 14 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Brown offered Ashdown Cabinet job | Brown offered Ashdown Cabinet job |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown offered former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown a cabinet post, the peer has told BBC Radio 4's Today programme | Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown offered former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown a cabinet post, the peer has told BBC Radio 4's Today programme |
| Lord Ashdown said the offer was made on Wednesday - after Lib Dem Leader Sir Menzies Campbell said no member of his party would join Mr Brown's government. | Lord Ashdown said the offer was made on Wednesday - after Lib Dem Leader Sir Menzies Campbell said no member of his party would join Mr Brown's government. |
| The peer said he could not have considered taking a Cabinet post without Sir Menzies' approval. | The peer said he could not have considered taking a Cabinet post without Sir Menzies' approval. |
| And he said that he would not have been in favour of the proposal anyway. | And he said that he would not have been in favour of the proposal anyway. |
| BBC political editor Nick Robinson said a meeting on Monday between Sir Menzies and Mr Brown included discussions about junior roles for Lord Ashdown and another Lib Dem peer, Baroness Neuberger. | BBC political editor Nick Robinson said a meeting on Monday between Sir Menzies and Mr Brown included discussions about junior roles for Lord Ashdown and another Lib Dem peer, Baroness Neuberger. |
| He said the Lib Dem leader had not been aware that a direct offer of a Cabinet post was being made to Lord Ashdown. | |
| However, Lord Ashdown said he "could not conceivably consider such a job" unless his leader told him that it was a good idea. | However, Lord Ashdown said he "could not conceivably consider such a job" unless his leader told him that it was a good idea. |
| Robinson said that a "high stakes political gamble has in the end come to nothing". | Robinson said that a "high stakes political gamble has in the end come to nothing". |
| The Guardian had reported that Mr Brown wanted a senior Lib Dem involved on an all-party initiative on the British constitution. | The Guardian had reported that Mr Brown wanted a senior Lib Dem involved on an all-party initiative on the British constitution. |
| There has been long-running speculation that Lord Ashdown and Sir Menzies Campbell were close to joining Tony Blair's first Cabinet when he came to power in 1997. |