The big news in this week's Budget has been the increase in free childcare hours as well as the increase in the personal pension allowance. Both of these changes are about encouraging and enabling people to either stay in work or go back to work, and have been widely welcomed.
Of course, as with all Budgets, not everyone will be happy. But as I keep pointing out the difficult financial situation, brought about largely by Covid and essential spending on schemes like the small business grants and furlough, as well as the global challenge of energy price rises due to Putin's invasion of Ukraine, meant the Chancellor was never going to be able to meet everyone's demands all at once.
On other political issues I could not vote for the Illegal Immigration Bill. The proposals disapply the protections for pregnant women and children, and therefore raise the spectre of children being detained and forcefully removed from the country. I take my role as Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee very seriously and simply don't think that would be compatible with voting for this Bill.