Why I hate Budget day
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 In the days when there was a "tobacco escalator" (inflation plus three or five per cent), Budget day was - in media terms - one of our busiest days of the year. We hung on to the Chancellor's every word and when he announced another hefty increase in tobacco duty the phones would immediately start ringing with requests for a response.
Some years we were invited to comment, live on television, as the Budget statement was being read out. This caused some consternation on my part because I was worried that I might be expected to comment on the economy as a whole and, as anyone who knows me will confirm, economics in not my strong point.
Truth is, I've always hated Budget day. It goes back to my schooldays. I can remember, even now, the disappointment of getting home from school only to find that all children's programmes had been cancelled or moved from BBC1 to BBC2 and the only thing to watch was some interminable Budget speech and the even more boring analysis that followed.
I should explain that in the late Sixties we didn't have BBC2 on our black and white television set. Before my parents bought a new (colour) TV in 1972, we had two channels to choose from, BBC1 and ITV (and we only watched BBC1).
Anyway, the Budget was hugely irritating and the interruption to my daily routine (come home, have tea, watch TV) put me off economics for life. Well, that's what I tell my accountant.
Simon Clark
I will be discussing the Budget on SunTalk Radio with Jon Gaunt later this morning.
Update: Jon has just interrupted our conversation to play a short clip of the Chancellor Alistair Darling ... accompanied by loud snores.
Reader Comments (1)
I don't think that Jon has a high opinion of our darling, Darling.
PS. I'm not calling you darling,Simon.