Proceedings in parliament are often described in theatrical terms; and the budget is one of the most theatrical of all parliamentary performances.
Tag: government finance
The first budget? Walpole’s bag of tricks and the origins of the chancellor’s great secret
The word is often said to be derived from the old french word for a little bag or purse. But there is more to it than that. As the Oxford English Dictionary points out, the phrase 'to open one's budget' was being used in the sixteenth century to mean that someone was revealing something which… Continue reading The first budget? Walpole’s bag of tricks and the origins of the chancellor’s great secret