He is also tipped to move from 1:4 to 1:5 staffing ratios offer £500 sign-on bonuses to new childcare workers and fund more wraparound childcare in schools. He originally rebuffed the idea, but accepted it after Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts gave him more wiggle room. The big carrot: Hunt is expected to offer one- and two-year-olds the same 30 hours a week of free childcare available to kids aged three and four. A little birdie (bunny?) tells Playbook it went online at around the time Hunt was briefing the king. A five-byline Guardian team led by Pippa Crerar got the scoop that free childcare hours will be extended, which splashes the Mail, i and Times. MY RABBIT’S ESCAPED! Vast tracts of today’s statement were either briefed or leaked (see below), but a “rabbit out the hat” the night before is next level. See how your area is faring by clicking here. **A message from Lowell: The latest update to our Financial Vulnerability Index reveals that the North East is struggling to improve its financial health as costs rise, and remains the most vulnerable region in the UK. Certain chancellors have in the past also taken time out to ring newspaper editors. … Hunt visits a nursery in West London, records a pool clip and sits down with the BBC and ITV pol eds … then addresses the 1922 Committee at 5 p.m. as the documents drop, plus the weighty Health and Disability White Paper … Office for Budget Responsibility chair Richard Hughes gives a livestreamed press conference from 2.30 p.m. … PMQs is at noon … The budget speech starts at 12.30 p.m. POUR THE COFFEE: Sunak chairs Cabinet at 8.30 a.m. Who’d have thought in 2019, when Hunt was floored by ascendent populist Boris Johnson and banished to committee land, that we’d all be here today? Not to mention the future of the nation, if it helps stabilize the economy and revive Conservative polling. Put the kettle on: Despite relentless briefing that his “budget for growth” will be a boring ship-steadying, Hunt’s first budget is a huge moment for the chancellor and his party. IT’S FINALLY HERE: Jeremy Hunt is about to deliver the U.K.’s first budget for 17 months - or three chancellors if that’s your preferred measure of time. This is Dan Bloom, with you for the rest of the week. Happy Budget Wednesday! If you can make it in, that is - the main Tube lines except for the Elizabeth Line and DLR are suspended due to strikes. Send tips here | Subscribe for free | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser
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