Red box (government)

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"Red box" is the informal term given to the dispatch box (alternatively spelled despatch box), ministerial box, or document box carried by Ministers in the British government. Similar in appearance to a briefcase, they are primarily used to hold and transport official departmental papers from place to place.

Contents 1 The Red Box 1.1 Notable Red Boxes 2 Dispatch Boxes 2.1 Australian Parliament 2.2 United Kingdom Parliament 3 References 4 External links

[edit] The Red Box

The design of the boxes has changed little since the 1860s. Covered in red leather, it is embossed with the Royal Cypher and Ministerial title. The 30lb boxes are constructed of wood, lined with lead and black satin; and, unlike a briefcase, the lock is on the bottom, opposite the hinges and the handle, to guarantee that the box is locked before being carried.^[1]

The colour Red, once used to signify British state ownership, has remained the traditional covering of the boxes.^{[citation needed]} The lead-lining, which has been retained in modern boxes, was once meant to ensure that the box sank when thrown overboard in the event of capture.^[2] Also bomb-proof, they are designed to survive any catastrophe that may befall their owner.^[3]

Production of the red boxes cost between £385 and £750. Between 2002 and 2007 the British Government spent £50,000 on new boxes.^[4] In 1998, a Whitehall initiative began to replace document boxes with an extensive intranet.^[5]

Exceptions to the red box are those carried by the Government Whips, which are covered in black leather.^[3] Traditionally, when Ministers leave office, they are permitted to retain one of the red (or black) boxes as a memento.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notable Red Boxes

Perhaps the best known red box is the Budget Box, which is held up for a photo-shoot outside of 11 Downing Street, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer announces his annual budget plans. The first Budget Box was made for William Ewart Gladstone around 1860 and is lined in black satin and covered with scarlet leather. That particular box had been used by every Chancellor since, with the exceptions of Lord Callaghan and Gordon Brown,^[6] who both had new ones commissioned in 1965 and 1997 respectively.

The Budget Box of 1997 is made of yellow pine with a brass handle and lock, covered in scarlet leather and embossed with the Royal Cypher of E II R and the words Chancellor of the Exchequer directly beneath it. In 2008, Brown's successor as Chancellor, Alistair Darling, reverted to using the original box.

Other red boxes of note are the ones delivered to the British Sovereign every day (except Christmas Day and Easter Sunday) by government departments, via the Page of the Presence. These boxes contain Cabinet and Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents, most of which the monarch must sign and give Royal Assent to, before they can become law (an essential part of the role of a constitutional monarch).

[edit] Dispatch Boxes

There are also two wooden dispatch boxes which serve as lecterns on the table which divides each house of Parliament in the United Kingdom and Australia, one box for the Government and one box for the Opposition. The prime minister and leader of the opposition are seated roughly right at these boxes, and ministers and shadow ministers address the house from the dispatch boxes.

In addition to giving those addressing the house a place to speak from, the dispatch boxes contain Bibles and other items used as part of the swearing in of new Members.

People often speak of an MP's performance "at the dispatch box," meaning his or her skills in addressing the house and, more specifically, arguing the party's case.

[edit] Australian Parliament

The dispatch boxes in the Australian Parliament were gifts from King George V to mark the opening of the Old Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927. They are made of rosewood, and have enamel and silver decorations. Inside the lid of each box is an inscription signed by King George.

The Senate has two lecterns which serve a similar purpose.

[edit] United Kingdom Parliament

The dispatch boxes in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom were gifts from New Zealand, presented after the House of Commons was rebuilt following World War II. The most prominent dispatch box, used mainly by the incumbent Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, was originally designed as a sword's length between opponents to prevent either person attacking the other. They are modelled on the Australian boxes.

The box on the Government's side houses a number of holy books of various religions including a Bible and a Qur'an. The Opposition's box contains a burnt Bible, dating back to the destruction of the Commons chamber during the Second World War by a German bomb.^[7] The Bible was resting on the centre table at the time the bomb detonated and remarkably was recovered largely intact.^{[citation needed]}

More recently, the Government dispatch box is reported to have sustained serious (and potentially irreparable) damage at the hands of serving Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown's habit of jabbing his marker pen at his papers has led to the surface of the box becoming covered in black pen marks.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ruth Kelly refuses to take box home