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 1 Version 2
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.
'Could not conceivably consider'
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.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. Sir Menzies had ruled out any Lib Dem serving in a Brown Cabinet after Wednesday's Guardian newspaper reported that Mr Brown was considering such an offer.
Robinson said that a "high stakes political gamble has in the end come to nothing". I told him that I could not conceivably consider such a position unless my leader told me that he thought it was a good idea and even if he did, I didn't Lord Ashdown
The Guardian had reported that Mr Brown wanted a senior Lib Dem involved on an all-party initiative on the British constitution. Lord Ashdown told Today that he had been offered the job by Mr Brown later on Wednesday.
In a statement to the programme he said: "It is true that Mr Brown suggested... that I might take a position in the Cabinet.
"I told him that I could not conceivably consider such a position unless my leader told me that he thought it was a good idea and even if he did, I didn't."
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.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.