For most Brits, there was little to celebrate in Rachel Reeves’s fiscal statement – but that didn’t stop Treasury staff from toasting the Budget. Just hours after the Chancellor delivered her 80-minute speech to MPs on Wednesday, Treasury aides made the short hop across St James’s Park to Westminster’s Two Chairmen pub. From 4 p.m. onwards, while gilt yields continued to rise and markets tried to make sense of Labour’s plans, Whitehall mandarins drank the afternoon away in a post-Budget bash. But not everyone was left feeling merry by the end of the night…
Despite Reeves enthusiastically announcing that pubgoers can now enjoy a ‘penny off a pint’, Steerpike noted that a number of trollied Treasury staffers had the audacity to turn up with shop-bought tinnies in hand. Those who were gracious enough to actually buy drinks from the establishment still caused problems, however, with one onlooker remarking that ‘they left rubbish and smashed glass everywhere’. Another regular pub presence lamented to Mr S that the evening was ‘the worst night’ the Westminster pub had seen. Good heavens.
Mr S hears that so many civil servants flocked to the famous watering hole that the Whitehall crowd ended up commandeering neighbouring streets in order to continue partying. Pedestrians struggled to push through the swathes of drinkers, while cars could barely make it onto Old Queen Street. Nothing like a beer or five to make good pub etiquette fly out the window, eh?
Car unsuccessfully attempts to force its way through throng of HMT officials as they enjoy a post-Budget pint at the Two Chairmen. Each 700 pints = a free one, thanks to Rachel Reeves’ beer duty largesse pic.twitter.com/I8suD2eS5Q
— George Parker (@GeorgeWParker) October 30, 2024
While the drink flowed, the Office for Budget Responsibility was predicting that the tax burden is now set to rise to its highest ever level. Meanwhile gilt yields opened at even higher levels this morning. Crikey. Not that Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones or indeed the Chancellor were spending time worrying about that, of course. Both were too busy celebrating outside the Two Chairmen…
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