It happens every year with plenty of media fanfare. But just what is "the Budget", and why should we pay attention?
The Budget is hard to miss even for those of us who are left cold by politics. You know the drill: the Chancellor of the Exchequer stands in Downing Street and holds up his big red briefcase while smugly grinning for a bunch of photographers. He then zips over to the House of Commons to deliver his Budget speech, but what's this yearly ritual really all about?
Taxing machine
It's useful to begin with the Chancellor himself. Whoever holds the position is always, always bound to come in for a lot of flack. One cynical writer once called the Chancellor a "taxing machine" who is "trusted with a certain amount of misery which it is his duty to distribute as fairly as he can."
Which is true to a point. The Chancellor does set our taxes, but he also decides how much money the Government spends on things like health, education and saving the world (we kid you not: last year, he announced that £50 million would be spent on rain forest conservation in Africa).
Chancellors have actually been around longer than Prime Ministers, and have always been a powerful presence in the Government. But Gordon Brown took it up a notch during his tenure. Thanks to his close friendship (and intense rivalry) with Tony Blair, he enjoyed such freedom and power that the very position has been elevated way above other Cabinet roles. The Chancellor is now second only to the Prime Minister in the corridors of power.
