Budget Briefcase

[ludwig]

Why are they still using that scruffy old red case? - I thought Gordon Brown had a new one made back in 1997.

[jno]

He didn't use the old one (neither did Callaghan), but I suppose it must have been left in a Tory museum somewhere. Mustn't go throwing good money at British craftsmen when you've still got a perfectly serviceable item that belonged to Henry VIII.

[ludwig]

here it is..

http://www.guardian.c...k-at-previous-budgets

Perhaps Darling's keeping it as a souvenir.

[Zeuhl]

Gordon Brown's using it to sell dodgy perfumes on Oxford Street

[ABerrant]

And where exactly are the Budget Boxes that were manufactured at the request of Messrs. Callaghan and Brown? Heaven forfend that they each kept "their" costly cases (and I doubt that much of the cost of Brown's Box made its way into the pockets of the four Babcock Rosyth Defence Ltd trainees tasked with its construction) since Darling had to once again make-do with Gladstone's 150 year-old original.

Perhaps one of them will make a guest appearance at the next Budget.

[modeller]

It's tradition ludwig and why not ? It's harmless . I doubt if anything was in it apart from some throat lozenges . He had a long speech to make.
It's like our state opening of parliament and wearing funny clothes. Why not ?
We don't need to have the sterile atmosphere of the US and Brussels.
We are British and like doing things our way .

[ludwig]

I'm not bothered modeller. I just wondered why, when they'd gone to the trouble of replacing the old one that they didn't start using the replacement as standard.

It only crossed my mind because they mentioned on the news that the bag Osborne was using dated back to Gladstone's time and was being retired to a museum after this budget.

[R1Geezer]

Yes glad the old case is back, Noo Labour hated tradition, in fact they hated the whole country, did their best to screw it over 13 years, makes you wonder why there are any labour voters left, sh0wer of sh1te!

[Gromit]

The Tories will probably have the new one manufactured in China.