Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 9 December 1920.
Mr George Lambert
, South Molton
I should like to call attention to a memorandum issued by the League of Nations. They say:
Nearly every Government is being pressed to incur fresh expenditure daily on palliatives which aggravate the very evils against which they are directed.
That is a true statement of the case. When we are endeavouring to palliate these evils or to carry out these schemes of social reform we are inflicting more hardship upon the population than we cure. There is another matter to which, from the financial point of view, I take strongest exception, and that is the indefinite liabilities caused by these efforts at Government legislation. Take the housing question. Can the Chancellor of the exchequer or any Minister tell us what the housing question is going to cost the country 2 Have they any idea at all? Take the Agriculture Bill. Here you have a perfectly indefinite liability. Three commissioners are to be appointed, and at their fiat the Chancellor of the Exchequer may have to pay millions of pounds. Assuming that corn goes down Is. per quarter below the minimum price fixed by these commissioners, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has to pay £1,750,000 a year. It can easily go down 10s. Where would my right hon. Friend's Budget be if he had to find something like £17,500,000 for this purpose as a subsidy for wheat, etc.?
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
The Chancellor - also known as "Chancellor of the Exchequer" is responsible as a Minister for the treasury, and for the country's economy. For Example, the Chancellor set taxes and tax rates. The Chancellor is the only MP allowed to drink Alcohol in the House of Commons; s/he is permitted an alcoholic drink while delivering the budget.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
