A new politics: cutting Ministerial pay

Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have made a clear commitment to cutting the cost of government, including urgent action to begin reducing the deficit this year.

As part of this process of cutting costs, the Prime Minister is today announcing that new Ministers will be paid five per cent less than Ministers received in the previous administration.

In addition, the Government will impose a subsequent Ministerial pay freeze for the lifetime of the Parliament – effectively a further pay cut when inflation is taken into account.

The five per cent reduction in Cabinet Minister salaries alone will save taxpayers approximately £50,000 this year – and approximately £300,000 will be saved this year when all government ministerial positions are taken into account.

Over the lifetime of the Parliament, the Ministerial salary cut and subsequent pay freeze will save approximately £3 million.

PM hosts first Cabinet meeting

Prime Minster David Cameron has chaired the first meeting of his new coalition Cabinet.

The PM and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg opened the 9am meeting by emphasising their commitment to working together and highlighting the strong shared agenda.

New Chancellor George Osborne then updated ministers on the economy, stressing the priorities of tackling the deficit, and demonstrating that the UK was “open for business”.

He added that he would be working closely with Business Secretary Vince Cable on banking reform.

There were discussions on foreign policy, including the situation in Afghanistan, and the parliamentary timetable.

The meeting ended with the Cabinet agreeing to a five percent pay cut for all ministers and a ministerial pay freeze for the lifetime of the Parliament.

Last night the PM, Mr Clegg and other senior Cabinet ministers attended their first meeting of the Government’s new National Security Council.

Nick Clegg appointed Deputy Prime Minister

Her Majesty The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister.

It has been agreed that five Cabinet posts will be filled by Liberal Democrats, including the appointment of Nick Clegg.

Establishment of a National Security Council

The Prime Minister is to establish a National Security Council (NSC), which will oversee all aspects of Britain’s security.

The Prime Minister has appointed Sir Peter Ricketts (Permanent Undersecretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) as his National Security Adviser, a new role based in the Cabinet Office. Sir Peter will establish the new National Security Council structures, and coordinate and deliver the Government’s international security agenda.

The Council will coordinate responses to the dangers we face, integrating at the highest level the work of the foreign, defence, home, energy and international development departments, and all other arms of government contributing to national security.

The Council will be chaired by the Prime Minister. Permanent members will be the Deputy Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Secretary of State for International Development and the Security Minister.

Other Cabinet Ministers, including the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, will attend as required. The Chief of the Defence Staff, Heads of Intelligence Agencies and other Senior Officials will also attend as required.

The inaugural meeting of the NSC will be chaired by the Prime Minister this afternoon. The Council will discuss the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and review the terrorist threat to the UK.

New PM Cameron promises 'better times'

Press Association/ The Independent

David Cameron entered 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister tonight promising to lead Britain through to "better times ahead".

Arriving from his audience at Buckingham Palace where he formally "kissed hands" with the Queen, the Conservative leader said he intended to form a "full and proper" coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

President Barack Obama calls David Cameron

The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the UK-US special relationship during a phone conversation tonight.

In a statement following the call, President Obama said:

“Today, I was pleased to call David Cameron to extend my personal congratulations for the successful campaign that he ran and for becoming the new British Prime Minister. As I told the Prime Minister, the United States has no closer friend and ally than the United Kingdom, and I reiterated my deep and personal commitment to the special relationship between our two countries – a bond that has endured for generations and across party lines, and that is essential to the security and prosperity of our two countries, and the world. I look forward to meeting with the Prime Minister at the G8/G20 meetings in June, and Michelle and I invited Prime Minister Cameron and his wife Samantha to visit Washington this summer.

“I also send my best wishes to Gordon Brown, and thank him for his friendship and his distinguished service as Prime Minister. He provided strong leadership during challenging times, and I have been grateful for his partnership. This historic election has been closely followed by the American people, and I have no doubt that the ties between our two countries will continue to thrive in the years to come.”

A Downing Street spokesman said:

“The Prime Minister, David Cameron, took a call from President Obama shortly after arriving in Downing Street. The US President offered his congratulations to Mr Cameron on his appointment as Prime Minister. He also invited the Prime Minister to visit the United States in July and said he was looking forward to seeing him in June at G8 and G20 meetings. They also discussed Afghanistan, the Middle East Peace Process and Iran.”

Gulf-based Brits could decide General Election: April 20th last day for voter registration

The General Election of May 6th could be one of the closest for a generation and Brits based in the Gulf could influence the decision in a number of constituencies,

Heather Harper, Patron of Gulf Tories, says that key constituencies like Hammersmith and Crawley could be enough to decide the result. "In these areas, less than 100 votes each way are predicted to be enough to decide the outcome not only for that constituency but for the election as a whole. As it is estimated that there are perhaps as many as 100,000 eligible British voters in the GCC it is very possible that the result of the British General Election could turn on overseas votes."

Talking about the campaign to get expatriates living in the Gulf region registered to vote, Gulf Tories chairman, Douglas Hansen-Luke, said; “For the last three months this group have been alerting locally-based British citizens of their right to vote and how to go about it.”

Talking about the role expatriates can play in the Conservative plans after the manifesto launch, Philip Dunne, Deputy Chairman of the International Office of the Conservative party, with responsibility for Conservatives Abroad said “British citizens living overseas have a role to play in helping to solve the big problems the UK faces and help change the country for the better.. Living and working overseas, British expats can help promote British services and products, skills, technologies and education around the world. Our expats will only do that if they feel a part of what is going on in Britain today. The Conservative Manifesto invites British expats to get involved.”