“As chief secretary, I was having a terrible time doing what I didn’t go into politics to do — cutting public expenditure. And I was having meetings with every departmental minister about their budget. They all wanted more money — Tony Benn and Barbara Castle more than most. I decided that I could get rid of three Cabinet ministers — the secretaries of state for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — if I could settle on a formula for their budgets. So I set up this method for allocating public expenditure that the Cabinet then agreed to.”

— Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett

Explaining the origin of the Barnett formula.
Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11205400/Lord-Barnett-obituary.html obituary, 3 Nov 2014

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

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Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett 4

British politician 1923–2014

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Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett 4

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