Chancellor of the Exchequer to parliament. This includes alcohol, which is otherwise banned under parliamentary rules. Previous chancellors have opted for whisky (Kenneth Clarke), gin and tonic (Geoffrey Howe), brandy and water (Benjamin Disraeli and John Major), spritzer (Nigel Lawson) and sherry and beaten egg (William Gladstone). The recent chancellors, George Osborne, Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown, opted for water. In fact Darling drank what was named "Standard Water" in reference to, and support of, the London "Evening Standard" newspaper's campaign to have plain tap water available in restaurants at no charge to customers. The chancellor has a robe of office, similar to that
Exchequer royal demesne lands and from the county "farm" (a form of local taxation). The Chancellor of the Exchequer then questioned him concerning debts owed by private individuals. By 1176, the 23rd year of the Reign of Henry II which is the date of the "Dialogue concerning the Exchequer", the Exchequer was split into two components: the purely administrative "Exchequer of Receipt", which collected revenue, and the "Exchequer of Pleas", a law court concerned with the King's revenue. Appeals were to the Court of Exchequer Chamber. Following the proclamation of Magna Carta, legislation was enacted whereby the Exchequer would maintain the