WHENEVER I sit down on the green benches, I always run my hand against the leather, just to remind myself of where I am and why I am there.

So when I sat down to hear this year’s budget, the main thing I had in my mind was ‘how will this help our area and my constituents?’

I’m sorry to report, I went in there with low expectations, but I left thoroughly depressed.

Britain’s economy is underperforming compared to similar countries, at a time when the world outlook is on the up. So what’s different? Brexit – though the Chancellor tried very hard to not say that.

The biggest shock was that the growth figures were downgraded to a generational low. The last time they were this bad was 1983. There were also reductions in the forecasts for productivity and wage growth. What this means for most people is that they will feel poorer and poorer. Christmas this year will feel harder than last year and next year looks to be worse.

After that, I wished the Chancellor had sat down rather than make jokes about Top Gear and Strepsils. The predicament we're in is nothing to joke about.

As a result of the cabinet’s mismanagement of the Brexit negotiations, we are spending more on preparing for Brexit (£3bn) than we are putting into the NHS (£2.8bn, and remember they asked for £4bn). So much for the promises on that red bus. The fact is, if the Cabinet had a clear direction of what deal they wanted, the cost of preparing for ‘all eventualities’ would be greatly reduced.

I am also seriously worried about the state of our public services, especially the public pay cap. In Oxfordshire we have heard that nurses are leaving the John Radcliffe to work in the new John Lewis at the Westgate Centre in Oxford because it pays better. But it’s not just nurses: teachers , ambulance workers – all our front line staff who do such incredible work for our community are facing a real-terms wage cuts. It is no wonder we have a retention crisis. I want to thank them for the wonderful job they do and I promise to continue to fight for them.

The other issue we have locally is housing and infrastructure. Money was announced for Oxfordshire. Hurray? £150m over five years sounds like a lot, and we badly need more infrastructure, but it is a third of what councils had estimated we needed to support the local plans. The councils have collectively now tied the county fiscally to delivering 100,000 homes and building on the green belt to do it. I am concerned they’ve sold our community short.

The one bit of good news was the extra investment in research and development. It now amounts to 2.4 per cent of GDP which is on the way to the three per cent that I and other science-minded MPs have been calling for.

But again, I worry if it will be enough to compensate for the loss of the networks being part of the EU. This is not just about money!

So all told, a tough week for our country. It’s worth noting that forecasts are just forecasts. I very much hope for all our sakes they are wrong.