that the government should do some things to improve the situation for those on the modest means, for example, the warm homes discount could be extended, etc. but then you've got the impact of something the government's doing quite deliberately, which is to raise taxes, national insurance going up by 1.25 percentage points for everybody who is working, at the same time as the thresholds below which you don't pay the higher rate of tax are being frozen, so that will drag more people into the higher rates of tax and national insurance, and they calculate that for the average family, that will be about £600 per year extra. so in april, you're talking about £1200 a year out of families' budgets, which in addition to the inflation we've got of 5.1% rising to 6%, it's going to be a difficult thing to cope with for most families. actress, model and activist april ashley has been hailed as a "trans trailblazer" following her death at the age of 86. ashley became only the second briton