Osborne hails McLoughlin agreement to shave a quarter off DfT's revenue budget

The Chancellor George Osborne will today hail his winning agreement on cutting the revenue budgets of four departments including the DfT by a quarter over the next four years.

Ahead of his Comprehensive Spending Review in just over a fortnight's time, Osborne is piling on the pressure to ministers to accept spending cuts. Patrick McLoughlin is one that has offered up the minimum cuts required, of around eight per cent per year, it is reported this morning - whilst other secretaries of state continue to dig in their heels. 

Defence secretary Philip Hammond said on the Andrew Marr show yesterday that there was a row with Iain Duncan Smith. "We all have robust discussions with the Chancellor. That's the nature of the way government works... people fight their corner and seek to sway the agenda in one way or another." The row comes as the FT reports that continuing low interest rates would allow Osborne to scale back his cuts.

The Chancellor had requested two scenarios to be modelled, of 25% and 40%, to departmental budgets, not capital programmes, sparking warnings that 'everyday transport' - local roads, buses and cycling - would bear the brunt of the cuts.