Image of the Month

The beginning of Winston Churchill's Budget speech for 1927. Churchill has not gone down in history as one of the great Chancellors of the Exchequer, but he did have a lot to contend with which seems familiar today. The economy was in decline, and to make matters worse, this Budget was drawn up in the year following the General Strike and a long and damaging coal strike which cost the country £30 million. As Chancellor, Churchill had little choice but to cut spending and raise taxation, describing himself as "the public executioner".