Sober Chancellor delivers a sobering budget for difficult times
Churchill drank brandy while he delivered his budgets, Gladstone preferred sherry and beaten egg. Hugh Dalton liked a rum and milk, while Ken Clarke drank whisky.
Presenting her first budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves drank water. But you knew that already, didn't you? Our Rachel never comes across as much of a bon viveur. A sober chancellor giving a sober budget was the clear mood.
There were attempts at humour, some successful, others less so. She got a decent laugh when she thanked previous chancellors for their counsel, 'including the former member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng), who admitted his mini-budget wasn't perfect'.
Even her uber-earnest deputy, Chief Secretary Darren Jones, burst out laughing at that one. He's an interesting character our Dazza, he sat dutifully behind his boss, looking like a character from a bygone age. He's only 37, but with his immaculately brilliantined hair, and round tortoiseshell spectacles, he looks like he would be more at home in some period drama, sat behind a Churchill or an Attlee. I bet if he ever gets to deliver his budget, he will drink a small glass of port or something.
