How Britian’s economy has suffered since Chancellors swapped alcohol for water
Kenneth Clarke’s 1996 whisky-sipping speech was, to date, the last instance of a Chancellor indulging in anything stronger than water. Clarke’s whisky budget was bold and confident, a farewell to the days when budgets were laced with a bit of liquid courage. As whisky gave way to water, some claimed the country’s economic fate lost its edge.