This week saw the excitement of Budget Day where the House of Commons simmers like a saucepan coming to the boil until the Chancellor stands up at 12.30pm.

There were some important economic changes to welcome and then a whole parade of juicy morsels to savour by the time a (somewhat hoarse) George Osborne sat down. A big cheer greeted the announcement of tax free childcare worth up to £2,000 per child which will be available for almost half a million children in working families in the South West next year, and also the plan to raise further the tax free personal allowance to £10,500 in 2015 which will benefit more than two million people in our region.

A strong, comprehensive package of support for British businesses was also warmly welcomed, including a £7 billion package to cut the cost of industrial energy bills (which will help us at home too), a doubling of the Annual Investment Allowance of £500,000, which means that almost every business will pay no tax upfront when they invest, and more help for exporters with the most competitive export finance package in Europe. Stronger businesses mean more jobs and the certainly of a pay packet for more families, as well as corporate taxes which help to plug the deficit in Britain’s finances – which we heard today is shrinking faster than in any other major economy. Furrowed brows accompanied the Chancellor’s announcements on help for savers as we grappled with the details but this soon turned into smiles when the implications became clear.

These dramatic measures will help those who have been hard hit by the low interest rates needed to secure the recovery, with new ISA allowances, a new higher interest pensioner bond, the abolition of the 10p starting rate of savings tax and the scrapping of the annuity system that forced pension savers into a one-size-fits-all model. It is good to be part of a Government that trusts people to save and invest their own money!

The juicy morsels were manifold and included another cut in beer duty of a penny a pint, especially welcome in ‘Wadworthshire’, and the freezing of duty on ordinary ciders, plus more money for Armed Forces and emergency services charities and relief on VAT for fuel costs for our own wonderful Wiltshire Air Ambulance. This is a budget for Britain’s makers, doers and savers and I warmly welcome it.