TWICKENHAM MP Vince Cable has insisted he will not leave the Coalition Cabinet despite being recorded by undercover journalists saying he was 'prepared to quit'.

The Business Secretary was secretly taped by journalists from the Daily Telegraph who had posed as Twickenham residents outside his constituency office.

He is reported to have likened being in the coalition government to warfare.

"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.

"So it is a question of how you use that intelligently, without getting involved in a war that destroys us all. That is quite a difficult position to be in, and I'm picking my fights. Some of which you have seen."

It is also reported that he criticised the speed at which the government was attempting change.

After Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Dr Cable is the highest ranking Liberal Democrat in the coalition government.

However, in a statement issued later he said he remained committed to the coalition and had no intention of leaving.

He said: "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."