Friday, April 07, 2006
The drinks budget
Is it true that the Chancellor can drink alcohol during Budget speech?
While delivering the Budget Speech the Chancellor, in accordance with a custom of the House which is a departure from the normal practice, is permitted to fortify himself with the liquid refreshment of his choice.
Disraeli is said to have favoured brandy and water, while Goschen preferred port. Gladstone, it is thought, consumed sherry and beaten egg from his pomatum pot, although a diarist of the time, Henry Lucy, unable to ascertain the contents of the pot, described the liquid as resembling "a preparation for the hair as it might look in sultry weather".
Other reported tipples include: Derick Heathcote Amory's concoction of milk, honey and rum and Jim Callaghan's tonic water. Stafford Cripps is said to have chosen plain water.
In more recent years, press reports mention John Major drinking mineral water, Geoffrey Howe choosing gin and tonic, Nigel Lawson switching from the whisky and soda enjoyed during his early Budgets to spritzer, and Kenneth Clarke having a taste for neat whisky.
Following Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget statement on 2 July 1997 the Leader of the Opposition, William Hague, opened his response as follows: "On a personal level, I congratulate the Chancellor on his fortitude in delivering his speech with only the assistance of water. "
Sources: An Encyclopaedia of Parliament. Norman Wilding & Philip Laundy. 4th ed. Cassell. 1972
A Diary of Two Parliaments. Henry W Lucy. 2nd ed. Cassell. 1885
The Times, 28.11.95
Hansard Vol 297, c.318
Didn’t I say English democracy was cute?
While delivering the Budget Speech the Chancellor, in accordance with a custom of the House which is a departure from the normal practice, is permitted to fortify himself with the liquid refreshment of his choice.
Disraeli is said to have favoured brandy and water, while Goschen preferred port. Gladstone, it is thought, consumed sherry and beaten egg from his pomatum pot, although a diarist of the time, Henry Lucy, unable to ascertain the contents of the pot, described the liquid as resembling "a preparation for the hair as it might look in sultry weather".
Other reported tipples include: Derick Heathcote Amory's concoction of milk, honey and rum and Jim Callaghan's tonic water. Stafford Cripps is said to have chosen plain water.
In more recent years, press reports mention John Major drinking mineral water, Geoffrey Howe choosing gin and tonic, Nigel Lawson switching from the whisky and soda enjoyed during his early Budgets to spritzer, and Kenneth Clarke having a taste for neat whisky.
Following Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget statement on 2 July 1997 the Leader of the Opposition, William Hague, opened his response as follows: "On a personal level, I congratulate the Chancellor on his fortitude in delivering his speech with only the assistance of water. "
Sources: An Encyclopaedia of Parliament. Norman Wilding & Philip Laundy. 4th ed. Cassell. 1972
A Diary of Two Parliaments. Henry W Lucy. 2nd ed. Cassell. 1885
The Times, 28.11.95
Hansard Vol 297, c.318
Didn’t I say English democracy was cute?
