"Of course there will be sceptics and doubters but I believe we can make this work"
David Cameron has said the first meeting of his coalition Cabinet showed there is a clear "shared agenda" with the Liberal Democrats as he vowed to confound doubters of the power-sharing deal.
The newly-installed Conservative Prime Minister admitted that the power-sharing administration would have to take "difficult" decisions on where to slash public spending.
But amid early signs of some backbench dissent over the deal, he told The Sun he remains convinced it can provide a stable basis for dealing with the country's economy.
"Of course there will be sceptics and doubters but I believe we can make this work. I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't," he told the newspaper on his second day in Number 10.
"The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. The doubters won't be proved wrong by words, promises or signed documents but by the actual evidence of a Government governing effectively.
"And that's what we're prepared to do.
"At the Cabinet meeting... hearing (Chancellor) George Osborne and (Liberal Democrat Business Secretary) Vince Cable speak about the economy, it was clear there is a common agenda we want to pursue."
Mr Cameron, who on Thursday night named six more Liberal Democrats to his Government as he distributed middle-ranking ministerial posts, is expected to complete the line-up on Friday.
Of 29 appointments officially announced on Thursday night just five were women - two of those peers - risking renewed criticism over the male-dominated make-up of the power-sharing executive.
Some Conservatives are said to be unhappy over the proposal for legislation requiring a vote of 55% of MPs for Parliament to be dissolved before the end of the five-year term. It is designed to prevent either party to the coalition being able to "cut and run" by forcing a fresh election if they believed it was advantageous.
By The Press Association
