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Rookie Chancellor Rishi Sunak kicked off his first Cabinet meeting in his new job by ordering colleagues to find 5% cuts in their departments’ budgets.

Mr Sunak was parachuted into the role following Sajid Javid’s shock resignation.

His first act was to tell ministers to slash spending.

A No10 spokesman said: “The Chancellor reminded all ministers their departments needed to find 5% savings so money could re-prioritised on other priorities.”

Downing Street also refused to say whether the Budget would go ahead on March 11 as planned.

Mr Sunak could rip up Tory election manifesto promises to limit public spending, in a bid to fund other pledges.

A No10 spokesman said: “We will continue to have a clear fiscal framework; that gets confirmed at Budget.

“The Chancellor is busy getting down to work, that will continue throughout the weekend as preparations for the Budget continue.”

(Image: Getty Images)

In contrast it's understood that Justice Secretary Robert Buckland was asked to sack his aide to keep his job and did so.

Mr Javid - the most high profile person to leave the government - was replaced by his deputy Rishi Sunak.

He said it had been a "huge honour" to serve as chancellor, one of the four great offices of state.

But he refused to give in to the conditions imposed by Boris Johnson's senior adviser Dominic Cummings.

When asked whether the conditions were put forward by Mr Cummings, he said they were imposed "by the Prime Minister".

He added: "My successor has my full support as does the Prime Minister."

In the resignation he sent to Boris Johnson, Javid urged the PM to "ensure he Treasury as an institution retains as much credibility as possible".

He repeated his explanation that he "could no accept the conditions attached to the reappointment".

In a pointed remark he said: "It is crucial for the effectiveness of government that you have people around you who can give you clear and candid advice, as I have always sought to do.

"I also believe that it is important as leaders to have trusted teams that reflect the character and integrity that you would wish to be associated with."

He urged the PM to not to "waste a moment" in delivering on the promise made in the election to "lead us forward into a decade of social and economic renewal".

It is thought to be the first time a Chancellor has resigned in protest for 31 years after Nigel Lawson quit under Margaret Thatcher in 1989.

His resignation makes Mr Javid the shortest-serving Chancellor for 50 years - and the last one only left the job because he died.

Johnson's team had carefully choreographed the reshuffle, presenting it as an opportunity to foster new talent, particularly among women, while also rewarding loyalists.

But Sajid's resignation added to a sense that the prime minister wanted to have more control over the Treasury.

Johnson's spokesman said the British leader had set up a new economic team to advise both the prime minister and finance minister so that the two could work closely together.

"It will be based in Number 10 and Number 11 (Downing Street) and will jointly advise the prime minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer as they work to level up the economy across the UK," the spokesman said, adding that Sunak had worked closely with his predecessor on the budget due in March.