David Cameron has stamped his authority on the first meeting of his new coalition Cabinet ordering a 5 per cent pay cut for his ministerial team.

The Prime Minister and his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg also issued a warning to ministers in the new Lib-Con alliance against airing their differences in public.

The two men will chair a Coalition Committee set up specifically to ensure any disputes which arise between ministers are swiftly resolved behind closed doors.

However the first strains in the new coalition were appearing on the backbenches, with one Tory MP warning publicly that the Lib Dems lacked the discipline to sustain the Government for a full five years.

There were also reports of unrest brewing in the Conservative ranks over plans to legislate for fixed-term parliaments, intended to reassure the Lib Dems that Mr Cameron will not call a snap election when they are at a disadvantage.

Other Conservatives were said to be unhappy over the proposal for legislation requiring a vote of 55 per cent of MPs for Parliament to be dissolved before the end of the five-year term.