Spending decisions revealed

The Coalition government has been getting into its stride this Autumn, taking the tough decisions that are needed.

The centrepiece in October was the Comprehensive Spending Review in which the Chancellor George Osborne laid out a clear plan to eliminate the record structural deficit over four years.

This has involved many difficult decisions, but the aim is to share the pain of tax rises and spending cuts. The wealthiest 20% will bear the larger share and we are seeking to protect those most vulnerable.

The government has made choices to maintain spending on the NHS and schools while other departments have suffered cuts focused on bearing down on administrative costs while seeking to maintain frontline services.

There will be concerns about some of the specific measures we are being forced to take, but it is important to understand that we had no alternative given the parlous state of the public finances. Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs understand this; Labour planned £44bn of cuts but still refuse to say where they think these should fall.

It is early days but there are encouraging signs that our strategy is working and we have pulled Britain back from the brink. The country still has to borrow enormous amounts, but at an interest cost lower than Germany for the first time in decades. The private sector is picking up the slack with economic growth since the election higher than forecast.

Parliament has been busy, with policy announcements virtually daily and every week a new Bill is presented to start its passage into law. This week I finished helping take the first parliamentary reform bill through its Commons stages, which will reduce the number of MPs at the next election and introduce more equal sized constituencies.

The Government has a clear agenda to deliver the change Britain needs - and is getting on with it.