David Cameron has told the Cabinet that it must keep the country on-side as "tough" spending cuts bite and millions of public sector workers fear for their jobs.
Ahead of Chancellor George Osborne's comprehensive spending review this afternoon, the Prime Minister insisted that the expected £83 billion cuts package would be "fair" and support economic growth.
It is thought that the deficit reduction measures will cost about 490,000 public sector jobs over the next four years.
After Mr Osborne spelt out the details of the CSR to the Cabinet, Mr Cameron rallied Cabinet colleagues to make the case for the cuts.
His spokesman said: "The Prime Minister summed up that we have got to be clear that we need to deal with the deficit, but do that in a way that's fair and takes the country with us.
"Clearly this is an anxious time for some people in public sector jobs, but we have a plan and it's a four-year plan, it's not something that's going to happen in one day.
"It's going to be tough but it's something that is achievable and that we believe is fair and promotes economic growth while protecting the things that people care about."
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