The historical changes to the House of Lord this week caused very little stir in the Commons. The removal of 659 Hereditary Peers was effectively a done deal and the Commons therefore concentrated on the usual end-of-season rush to complete various official pieces of legislation, which the Government has had to force through both Houses.
These included the Welfare reform and Pensions Bill, which changes Incapacity Benefit, and Widows Pensions. There were many Labour rebels who joined the Opposition lobbies. However, some could not bring themselves to do it even though they were deeply unhappy. They were concerned that they might displease the Party and find themselves deselected for the next election.
The other major event was the Chancellor's Pre-budget Report.
It now seems we get two budget statements a year. The package of announcements will require some detailed analysis, but it is already clear that the Treasury has got billions of pounds, but it is not prepared to spend much. Prudence is to the forefront, but whether the electorate will appreciate this frugality at a time when class sizes are rising a hospital waiting times are still far too high, is debatable.
However, I do warmly welcome three of the measures announced yesterday.
The first is the decision to cancel, for the time being, the proposals for a pesticide tax, which would have been a disaster for agriculture without any real guarantee that it would have caused a major reduction in usage.
The second is the decision to give free TV licences for pensioners. Television, for many elderly people, is the only source of entertainment and information and the licence fee has become a major expense. I also welcome the decision not to increase fuel duties through the fuel escalator. Our petrol costs are now high enough and way out of line with Europe.
It was also satisfying to see the Chancellor adopt Liberal Democrat policies on' ring fencing' certain taxes to spend the money raised on certain areas.