Osborne praises Balls
By Tony Grew - 15th July 2011
A rare moment of unanimity broke out between Ed Balls and George Osborne yesterday.
During the debate on the sovereign grant bill, which changes the way the Royal Family are supported in their public duties, the chancellor took time to say thanks.
"Because the Queen is one of the few heads of state in the world who is genuinely completely above the party political fray, I want to take this opportunity to thank my opposite number, the shadow Chancellor, and his team for conducting themselves in a very proper way as the loyal Opposition in asking questions. We will come on to the questions that he has rightly asked."
The warm words were too much for Ed Balls' somewhat vocal PPS, Chris Ruane, who did a bit of heckling.
Osborne remarked:
"I suggest that his parliamentary private secretary, the honourable Member for Vale of Clwyd, banks this moment, because it might not come again in this Parliament."
The debate itself was something of a parliamentary curiousity, as the last time the Queen's finances were properly discussed was the 1970s.
"For many centuries the government of the day have used taxpayers’ money to fund the official duties of the monarch," the chancellor explained.
"In return for that financial support, every King and Queen since George III in 1760 has agreed to surrender for their lifetime the full income of the Crown Estate to the government.
"Nothing in the Bill changes that.
"The Crown Estate’s profits will continue to flow into the Exchequer, as they have done for the past 250 years, and we will continue to use them for general public expenditure. The funding for the monarch will continue to be provided by the taxpayer out of the money voted in the estimates."
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