Gordon Brown: 15% spending cuts are realistic

Gordon Brown said for the first time today that government spending could be slashed by up to 15 per cent.

The Prime Minister told MPs he was looking at plans town halls are using to make efficiency savings and spend the proceeds on frontline services.

The Tory-run body London Councils is pioneering such a project and Mr Brown said he had discussed the plans and wanted to judge whether they could be applied more "widely".

He added: "It has a great deal of scope for savings and I think that 15 per cent is not unrealistic."

Mr Brown was speaking during his twice-yearly grilling by chairmen of the Commons select committees.