Libya: are Nick Clegg and his Lib Dems keener on military action than the Tories?

How do Nick Clegg's party, the great opponents of the Iraq war, feel about Britain's latest Middle East adventure?

It may seem a bit parochial to be concerned with stuff like this when we're on the brink of military action, but the unity of the Coalition government is quite important. Especially when that coalition includes a junior partner whose most significant contribution on foreign affairs in recent years has been vociferous opposition to Britain's biggest military deployment.

Talking to several people who attended this morning's Cabinet meeting on Libya, I've had the same message: the Lib Dems are up for this.

In fact, some think they're actually more eager for Britain to launch a military intervention than (some of) their Conservative counterparts around the Cabinet table.

As one Conservative minister puts it: "I and a lot of my colleagues are OK with this, but we have a few concerns. If they have doubts, they're keeping them very well hidden."

I put this to a Lib Dem minister. His response: "Oh yes. We've been pushing harder on this than a lot of them. This is liberal interventionism, no doubt."

Another Lib Dem was overflowing with praise for David Cameron and William Hague. Both have done a "first class job" in taking Britain to the verge of military action in the Middle East.

Now, this is a partial account, and I don't claim to be able to tell you what Lib Dem MPs and grassroots members think of all this.

But overall, the impression I'm left with is that when — and right now, it's when, not if — British forces go into action in Libya, they will do so with significant support from Liberal Democrat ministers.