Sorry minister, you'll have to take the Tube now

London: For years Tory and Liberal Democrat frontbenchers watched with envy as Labour cabinet ministers were whisked through the ornamental gates to the Palace of Westminster in chauffeur-driven Jaguars.

Just as the new ministers were learning to settle into the Jags' smart, upholstered seats, the coalition government announced yesterday an end to one of the great Whitehall status symbols.

"In the future, no minister should have a dedicated car or driver other than in exceptional circumstances," the chief secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, said. "Ministers will be expected to walk or take public transport where possible, or use a pooled car."

Ministerial chagrin will be matched by the fury of the formidable phalanx of government drivers who have a reputation as the guardians of Whitehall's most intimate secrets. Ministers can glean vital gossip about cabinet reshuffles if they keep on the right side of their drivers.

As ministers now take to the Tube and buses they and their drivers will have to blame an unlikely figure for the cuts to the government car service.

David Cameron pledged last year to end the practice of "politicians swanning around in chauffeur-driven cars like they're the royal family" after reading an account of the government car service by former minister Chris Mullin.

In his diaries, A View from the Foothills, Mullin wrote about the wasted spending on cars. "I am entitled to a car and a driver. Entirely pointless since the 159 and 3 buses will continue to run past my door, even though I am a minister," Mullin wrote on the day he was appointed a minister in 1999.

"Jessica [his private secretary] explained that the funding of the government car pool is geared to encourage maximum use of the car. The drivers are on a low basic wage and are heavily dependent on overtime. So, if I accept a driver, he will be hanging around all day doing nothing and hating me for not giving him enough to do."