As always, it's the policy pronouncements that attract the attention on Budget day. A cheap pint is much more interesting than the minutiae of OBR figures. But the big story on Wesndesday in terms of its impact on households didn't come from the Chancellor.

Barnardo's believes that the scandal of child poverty in this country will only be tackled when action is taken to improve both the income and the access to services that the poorest families have. We know that money matters to the poorest families - especially when rising living costs, stagnating wages, a weak labour market and spending cuts are placing more pressure on them than ever before. Many families in poverty in the UK live on just £12 per person per day after housing costs. That £12 has to stretch to cover everything: food, electricity, water, gas, bus fares.

Despite public perceptions that migrants have had a substantial and negative impact on wages, there is little quantitative evidence to date that suggests this. What is clear, however, is that migrants have increasingly come to dominate certain sectors and sub-sectors of the economy such as cleaning, construction and agriculture.

For people, for neighbourhoods, for the economy, for aspiration, for the strivers and all of those who do the right thing, we must say Yes to homes.

One there was 'Watergate'; now every minor, irritating little faux scandal as the mocniker 'gate' attached to it. The latest being 'Tipgate', an August silly season story that has found the Prime Minister, David Cameron failing to pay a tip in an Italian restaurant.

A student recently asked me an excellent question: "Your work in emerging markets involves a lot of unemployed people and a lot of poor people. Why is the minimum wage local, while at least one poverty line is global?"