Let’s hold onto that — and keep pushing until every child in this country has the security, dignity, and opportunity they deserve.

Good ideas and brave decisions are contagious. This could be the start of a real domino effect — one that shifts our politics toward equity, dignity, and the country we keep telling ourselves we want to be.

Yes, the lack of meaningful mental health commitments in this budget is disappointing. Communities are carrying extraordinary distress with too little support. But today’s decision is still a major and hopeful win for families across the UK.

And let me be clear: I would pay more tax for this every day of the week. Supporting children isn’t a burden. It’s the bare minimum of a civilised society.

For those of us who’ve listened to families worn thin by austerity, this is more than a policy reversal. It’s a moral correction. A moment where leadership finally aligns with conscience.

CPAG estimates that removing the cap could lift around 300,000 children out of poverty and reduce the depth of poverty for another 700,000. That’s fuller fridges, warmer homes, less stress, fewer impossible choices. It’s breathing room — emotional, financial, human.

Around 1.6 million children in the UK — roughly 1 in 9 — live in households affected by the cap. For eight long years, this policy reduced support at the exact moment families needed it most. It didn’t protect public finances; it deepened hardship.

The story reveals something deeply painful and unjust about what can happen when people with serious mental
Illness are left untreated and abandoned by the systems that should do better. Well done Ed and Jodi #Tenderfoot

The result is a podcast that feels as human as it does artful: raw and desperate, yes, but also profoundly good. Wisecrack isn’t just another listen; it’s an experience. You carry it with you long after the episode ends.

What makes it sing is Ed’s extraordinary blend of comedy and storytelling. His timing is razor-sharp, his wit disarming, but it’s the depth of his craft that astonishes. He knows exactly when to undercut with humour, when to pause, when to let silence do the talking.

The narrative doesn’t flinch from the darkness, but neither does it exploit it—there’s a respect for the people and places at its centre that elevates it far beyond the standard true-story format.