Peek at the Times archive

12.24.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 19th Jun 2008

Lloyd George in the official robes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Yesterday's (18 June) online edition of the Times newspaper contains extracts from the speeches of a number of past Chancellors of the Exchequer - to complement the contribution to be made by Alistair Darling at the Mansion House.

One of the speeches included is by David Lloyd George, delivered in July 1911, although interestingly it is more about foreign affairs than economics and what was seen as the growing threat to British interests by an expansionist Germany.

Also included on the website page is a link to the archives of the Times newspaper which bring up in more detail extracts from the original reports of some of these speeches. The Times archive goes back to 1785, the birth of the paper, and ends in 1985. It is usually only available on subscription or through participating institutions and libraries -so these free glimpses into are very welcome to the general reader.

You can read the whole of the Times article by Rosie Lavan and get access to the links to the archive at:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article4165704.ece