Problems in the eurozone and the economy dominated parliamentary business this week. Tuesday’s disappointing growth figures confirmed that the UK economy is still bumping along the bottom when we need strong growth to get unemployment and the deficit down. As I pointed out at Business Questions, the rash choice the chancellor made to cut too far and too fast in his spending review last year is why we are now experiencing the slowest recovery from recession in a hundred years.

It now looks very likely that the government will have to revise down the growth figures and revise up the size of borrowing for the fourth time in 18 months.  So the chancellor’s got his sums wrong again but instead of accepting that his economic plan is failing he and the government tries to blame Britain’s economic woes on Europe – a bit like a bad workman blaming his tools.

An ONS report on Tuesday laid bare the truth about the impact of the government’s VAT rise this week.

It revealed what we on this side of the House have long argued: VAT is a regressive tax which hits the poor hardest.

The ONS say that the poorest 20 per cent of UK households spend a higher proportion of their disposable income on VAT than the richest 20 per cent destroying the chancellor’s assertion, when he announced the increase in his 2010 budget, that VAT is a progressive tax.

Meanwhile, the Fawcett Society accused the government of being responsible for the greatest risk to women’s financial security in living memory.

With mounting concerns over our economic direction and its impact of on people’s lives, I asked the Leader of the House when the government will start listening to the growing number of voices demanding that they change course and admit it is time for a Plan B.

We also learned this week that Lord Young remains firmly sat behind his desk in No 10 advising the prime minister. Last year we were told that the Tory peer had resigned following his proclamation that, ‘many people have never had it so good in this so called recession’. The comments caused much embarrassment to the prime minister whose spin doctors swiftly told us that he had resigned minutes after I appeared on TV calling for him to go. In the Commons, I called for statement from the government on its definition of the word ‘resignation’.

With people like Lord Young advising the PM it is no wonder he is out of touch with the real world!

Finally, Westminster welcomes the UK Youth Parliament on Friday. Over the past ten years it has established itself as a powerful voice for Britain’s youth. I’m sure the UKYP session will be lively – they young politicians certainly have a lot to talk about and I look forward to joining them at the start of their debates.

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Angela Eagle is MP for Wallasey and shadow leader of the Commons