BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

Order. Order.

Hello, I'm Susan Hume and this is the Today in Parliament podcast for Wednesday, the 26th of March.

Coming up, the Chancellor announces welfare cuts and more defence spending to balance her books in an uncertain world.

There are no quick fixes, but we have taken the right choices. defence spending to balance her books in an uncertain world.

There are no quick fixes, but we have taken the right choices.

But the Conservatives say she can't blame others for the fragile economy.

This is a consequence of her choices.

She is the architect of her own misfortune.

Also, a Ukrainian minister accuses Russia of abducting and brainwashing her country's children.

It erases their identity. So this is like cultural genocide.

But first, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves has signalled further cuts to welfare

in an economic statement, she said, would restore stability

to public finances. She's had to make changes since her budget in the autumn, thanks to higher

government borrowing costs eating up her financial wriggle room. The Chancellor blamed the turbulence

in world affairs for the more difficult economic picture. And although she didn't mention President Trump's

decisions explicitly, she said the world was changing before our eyes. The threat to Europe had been

transformed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It has since escalated further and they continue to

evolve rapidly. At the same time, the global economy has become

more uncertain, bringing insecurity at home as trading patterns become more unstable,

and borrowing costs rise for many major economies.

The job of a responsible government is not simply to watch this change.

...