The day that then Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced 30 hours of free childcare for all households in England earning under £100k, I sat in my car and I sobbed.

It was pure frustration. I have no problem at all with the notion of the government helping parents with the cost of childcare but as the owner of two nurseries in Swindon, one of which I’ve run and worked at for 17 years, I feel so let down.

At the time Hunt set out the plan, there was no detail on how funding shortfalls would be tackled, but it meant that, from this September, almost every single child in my nurseries would be entitled to funding for a place. The amount of free hours available would double and the age range extended to children over nine months. I did not hold out any hope that Labour would reverse the policy as

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