This is the hair shirt parliament and MPs will need to lead from the front. Ministers have started the process by axing the limos, one of the toughest cuts so far negotiated. Now, as trailed in the last parliament, it is time for rank-and-file backbenchers to do their bit to fill in the £156bn deficit. The House of Commons Commission, a body run by John Bercow, the speaker, has agreed to cut £12m from the budget for the House in the current year.

This marks the start of what the body claims will be a fundamental review of expenditure, which will deliver further savings over the next three years. The savings to be made this year are 5 per cent more than the Commission had originally planned, and will reduce estimated spending for 2010/11 to £219m.
This action follows the Commission’s decision in December 2009 to cut House expenditure by 9 per cent by the end of 2012/13. Read more