BORIS Johnson will launch a fresh push to cut childcare bills as he vowed to use compassion to ease cost of living shocks.
But the PM stopped short of announcing tax cuts or a new support package after a special Cabinet meeting in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs.
The PM wants to change the law so childminders can look after five children at a time, rather than four.
Ministers hope the move will cut the astronomical costs of childcare, the highest in the Western world.
But Children’s Minister Will Quince admitted the change was not a magic bullet.
He added that dad-of-seven Mr Johnson had ordered ministers to look at more radical measures to help parents.
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Mr Quince hinted free childcare might be extended. And he suggested businesses should be incentivised to provide support such as on-site creches or contributions to nursery costs.
The Prime Minister told his top team in the Red Wall yesterday: “We’re going to make sure we use all our ingenuity, all our compassion, everything that we need to do to help people through.”
But the Government suffered a new blow after ONS figures revealed that the UK economy shrank in March.
Consumer spending has plummeted after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent energy markets into meltdown and prices soaring.
A YouGov poll found people’s confidence in their household finances was at a record low, dropping 57 points in a year.
And they are gloomy about the next year.
