Coalition announces £2bn more savings

Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told the House of Commons that £2bn of Labour commitments were being cancelled with immediate effect:

"Mr Speaker, the last Government committed to spend money it simply did not have. It made commitments it knew the next Government could not fulfil and in doing so cynically played politics with the hopes of our communities. The actions I have set out today shows that this Government will take responsible spending decisions, which, although sometimes difficult, will be guided by fairness and the overriding need to tackle the deficit. We did not make this mess but we will clean it up."

A good last line from Mr Alexander. A YouGov tracker poll conducted earlier this week found that 48% of voters blame Labour for spending cuts and 17% blame Cameron and Clegg. A further 19% blame both equally. Every cut needs to be hung around Gordon Brown's profligate head.

International markets can hardly fail to have noticed that the Coalition has made an impressive start in cutting excess spending and waste.  Neil O'Brien of Policy Exchange has noted that the early action is already saving UK taxpayers £6.6 billion in interest payments.  The pain is real but it is also worthwhile.

Tim Montgomerie

The full list of cancelled and suspended projects

Cancelled projects:

• Stonehenge Visitor Centre: £25m
• Local Authority Leader Boards: £16m
• Sheffield Forgemasters International Limited: £80m
• Rollout of the Future Jobs Fund: £290m
• Six month offer recruitment subsidies: £30m
• Extension of Young Person's Guarantee to 2011/12: £450m
• Two year Jobseeker's Guarantee: £515m
• Active Challenge Routes - Walk England: £2m
• County Sports Partnerships    : £6m
• North Tees and Hartlepool hospital: £450m
• Local Authority Business Growth Initiative: £50m
• Outukumpu: £13m

Suspended projects:

1. Libraries Modernisation Programme: £12m
2. Sheffield Retail Quarter: £12m
3. Kent Thameside Strategic Transport Programme: £23m
4. University Enterprise Capital Fund: £25m
5. Newton Scholarships: £25m
6. Health Research Support Initiative:    £73m
7. Leeds Holt Park Well-being Centre: £50m
8. Birmingham Magistrates Court: £94m
9. Successor Deterrent Extension to Concept Phase Long Lead Items: £66m
10. Search and Rescue Helicopters: £4.6bn (Successor Deterrent Extension to Concept Phase Long Lead Items will be reviewed as part of the broader Trident value for money review, which will report in the coming weeks. Search and Rescue Helicopters will be reviewed as a matter of urgency)
11. A14 Road: £1.1bn

More at the BBC.