SILENT CHEQUERS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21184, 6 August 1940, Page 7

SILENT CHEQUERS

PRIME MINISTER TOO BUSY Chequers, secluded official weekend home of Britain’s Prime Ministers, stands silent and deserted, says a London newspaper. In present conditions it is unlikely that Mr Churchill will have time to Lake a week-end in the country. On the other hand, if he has a few hours to spare he is more likely to spend them at his own country house at Westerham. When Lord Lee of Fareham gave Chequers to the nation he stipulated that, if ever a Prime Minister did not want to make use of it, the estate should be offered to nine other persons in this order: Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, Colonial Secretary, American Ambassador, Minister of Agriculture. FirstLord of the Admiralty, War Minister. Speaker of the House of Commons, and Lord Chief Justice. * Under the Act by which Lord Lee made the gift, Prime Ministers are entitled to draw £ls for each weekend they spend at Chequers. Provision is also made for a staff of servants, upkeep of the grounds and gardens, and maintenance and repair. The first Prime Minister to use the retreat in the Chiltern Hills was Mr Lloyd George, who held his “housewarming” in January, 1921.