This small-in- stature man of Indian birth, now our Prime Minister, has it covered

Did he really mean he would `fix the mistakes’ that were made by the incumbent before him even though she had only been in post for 49 days?

Could he keep his promise of `continuity’ and `a united party’? Economic stability and confidence he declared would `be at the heart of his government’s agenda’.

Well, after all those promises I’m certain we should all relax, pour a glass of wine and shed our worries for the future. For goodness sake, Halloween is coming and so is Christmas. Forget politics.

Everything is in hand. This small-in- stature man of Indian birth, now our Prime Minister, has it covered. He knows his stuff, the baddies before him have gone, some of them to the political scrapheap. There’s nothing to worry about.

I came back down to earth when I read my bank statement on computer. My electricity bill has nearly doubled, my AA monthly payment has taken a leap and my food bills – I’ve closed my eyes to those.

Sterling may have rallied this week but these are febrile times, there’s nothing for it but to keep cool and calm and start planning for Christmas which is what I was doing nearly 49 years ago this week as I awaited the birth of my first child. It still all seems like it happened yesterday because not that much appears to have changed over the decades.

The hospital he was born in was so inept, some are still inept – when I went into labour they wheeled me into the bathroom for the night, took my bell away and left me alone and in agony until the next morning. He was a large baby and took his time in coming. When number two son was ready to be born I booked into a private hospital where giving birth was a joy. So our NHS service in this field must be looked at. Nearly half a century on from my first awful experience too many mothers are still not getting the service they deserve.

The last thing this country needs is to put women off from having children because they can’t afford them or the care is still lacking. The Government believes women, including mothers, could and should work. I believe that too but currently many women are unable to pay childcare fees and are having to stay at home. Why can’t childcare be subsidised to enable mothers to work?

Prime Minister Sunak has a wealthy background, he is also a father. Surely he must know that childcare should be subsidised for low and even middle income families. If not our country could be stricken with a lack of workers in the future. His Government, he declared, ‘will not leave the next generation, your children and grandchildren , with a debt to settle that we were too weak to pay ourselves.’

I was brought up in an era when families were large and mothers mostly didn’t work outside the home. Families are small now and childcare is expensive yet politicians barely mention the subject. It really is time this subject was much higher up the agenda and I suggest to our new Prime Minister that he put someone in charge of childcare issues, a subject that has been treated lightly for far too long.

Tomorrow’s workers are an essential commodity. It’s an aspect of politics that needs nurturing with adequate funding available for childcare. Every family, every child is precious yet today’s politicians appear to show more interest in keeping their own lucrative careers. I have often despaired of the promises they have made but never fulfil. Will this next lot be any different?

They have two years in which to get it right and I want to remain hopeful. It is grossly unfair that many young people are now priced out of mortgages, are having to cut down drastically on food bills and face cold homes this winter because they can’t afford to heat them. A `medium term fiscal plan’ has been promised. It better be worthwhile.