Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Duchy of Lancaster – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 11 Chwefror 1991.
Dennis Skinner
Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
12:00,
11 Chwefror 1991
Does the Chancellor agree that the official duties get in the way of his other duties as chairman of the Tory party? Is it true that he has told the civil servants for that tiny little job he has got that in this election year they must clear the decks for April, May and June? Is it also correct that he has told them to leave things open for a possible date in October and that his official duties will be in inverse proportion to the way in which the Tory Government are able to fiddle interest rates and the other economic indicators?
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.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
