Morning Report – May 19th

As Political Scrapbook noted in wonderfully graphic fashion yesterday, the cabinet is increasingly full of people on their last legs. The zombie cabinet gained another member yesterday, as Ken Clarke’s comments on rape added him to their number. Tim Montgomerie has helpfully produced a collage of all of the horror headlines Clarke has received in today’s papers. Perhaps the most concering for the justice minister will be a Sun editorial which describes him as “soft” and “dangerously out of touch”. Elsewhere the broadsheet reaction can be summed up as either “rape is rape” or attacking media hysteria.

Clarke isn’t the only member of the zombie cabinet who’ll be avoiding the papers today, as Chris Huhne’s troubles over an eight year old speeding fine continue to mount. According to the Guardian, Huhne isn’;t the only prominent coalition politician who will be speaking with the police – it seems that David Laws will be doing likewise over his expenses.

And is the coalition sinking into open warfare over NHS reforms? There is said to be open warfare within the cabinet over Andrew Lansley’s plans, with Nick Clegg leading a (incredibly belated) assult on competition in the health service. Yesterday Lansley was at the Tory 1922 committee, where he received the full backing of his party, and some railed against the Lib Dems as “yellow bastards”. Nick Clegg has a “diary issue” that will keep him away from a joint meeting with Lansley today. What a shame…