Free 30-hours childcare.
The FUNDING of policies (or changes to policies) with the likes of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility ‘OBR’ formed in 2010 running its slide rule over government tax/spending projections - after a politicized UK Treasury appeared to take the last administrations word for where tax receipts would come from otherwise should have SCREAMED ‘Budget Deficit’ – is not lost on Labour, well the in the Lords at least.
The planned start of the 30-hours from September 2017 could now be delayed.
Apparently the Labour Lords are asking for an independent review of the funding and god knows when that would report, be revised, and found 'worthy' of their rubber stamp.
So my suggesting that Osborne/Cameron could not have made any ”guarantees" on Tax Credits Corbyn requested when needing to look at £4.5 billion the government thought they were saving over the next 3-years - 24-hours after the Lords rejected legislation that went through the Commons several times – is just common sense, as would be under parliamentary scrutiny, as other ‘stuff’ might need to be cut.
FYI the independent OBR takes governments spending/cuts/tax plans and all other 'assumptions', and puts it all in their forward UK economic/financial model, and so politicians words on what they are going to do is independently checked - hence some of the not so government friendly comments they issue, like when Osborne said last year he'd take the UK into an annual budget surplus by 2010.
In other words whether with the best intentions and/or secret knowledge of what they are going to do the FOLLOWING year, under the OBR Chancellors don't get 'the benefit of the doubt' any more. IMO.