Mr Cable is one of the most senior Lib Dems in the coalition government Cabinet minister Vince Cable has said he is “embarrassed” by comments made privately suggesting he could walk out of the coalition.
The business secretary told undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph he could “bring the government down” if they “push me too far”.
He said being in coalition was like “fighting a war”.
In a statement later Mr Cable said he regretted the comments and had no intention of leaving government.
The Telegraph reported that senior Lib Dem Mr Cable was recorded telling its reporters – who were posing as his constituents – that he had been involved in a “big argument” over dealing with the banks.
He said the Lib Dems had been pressing for a “very tough approach” which had been opposed by “our Conservative friends” and said he had been involved in a “big battle” over the cap on non-EU economic migration.
Mr Cable and Chancellor George Osborne were due to meet bank bosses on Monday but it was delayed because Mr Osborne was stuck in New York due to the snow. Mr Cable told the BBC on Sunday that the coalition was united in its determination to curb bank bonuses.
Asked about his influence in the government, he reportedly said he was prepared to use the “nuclear option” and resign, if he was pushed too hard.
Mr Cable was recorded saying: “I have a nuclear option; it’s like fighting a war. They know I have nuclear weapons, but I don’t have any conventional weapons. If they push me too far then I can walk out and bring the government down and they know that.
“I have no intention of leaving the government. I am proud of what it is achieving”
Vince Cable Business Secretary
“So it is a question of how you use that intelligently without getting involved in a war that destroys all of us. That is quite a difficult position to be in and I am picking my fights. Some of which you may have seen.”
The business secretary also reportedly criticised the speed at which the coalition was trying to push through changes in the health service, local government and other areas, which he described as a “kind of Maoist revolution” and said it was “in danger of getting out of control”
“We are trying to do too many things, actually,” he said.
“Some of them are Lib Dem inspired, but a lot of it is Tory inspired. The problem is not that they are Tory-inspired, but that they haven’t thought them through. We should be putting a brake on it.”
He said the axing of child benefit for higher earners had been done in a “rather cack-handed way” and added: “They haven’t yet done the winter fuel payments, but that’s coming, I think.”
David Cameron pledged during the election campaign that a Conservative government would keep the winter fuel allowance, free television licence and free bus pass.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Cable said: “Naturally I am embarrassed by these comments and I regret them.
“I have no intention of leaving the government. I am proud of what it is achieving and will continue to play my full part in delivering the priorities I and my party believe in, which are enshrined in the coalition agreement.”
Mr Cable has previously spoken out against the government’s policy of imposing an interim cap on non-EU workers – suggesting it was damaging businesses. He has campaigned for it to be applied more flexibly.
BBC deputy political editor James Landale said Mr Cable had lifted the lid on some of the inner workings of the coalition government and could expect to be heckled by Labour MPs next time he stood up in the Commons.
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