Oral Answers to Questions — Housing – in the House of Commons at on 18 April 1923.
Mr John Simpson
, Taunton
asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the import of liquid yolk of egg into the United States of America is absolutely prohibited on the ground of the excessive amount of preservative used in its preparation; whether any percentage limit of preservative is imposed by his Department as a condition of import and, if so, what that percentage is?
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN:
I have no definite information as to the first part of the question. The amount of boric acid preservative in liquid egg yolk imported into this country is not limited by any specific official Regulation, but the trade generally have agreed to restrict the amount used to 1.5 per cent.
Mr George Hardie
, Glasgow Springburn
Is it not a fact that the more an egg is decayed the more boric acid it will take?
Mr John Simpson
, Taunton
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, in the case of cream manufactured in England, we have to put on the package a certificate of the amount of boric acid in the material we sell, and is there any reason why this should not be extended to imported preserved liquid eggs?
Mr George Hardie
, Glasgow Springburn
What is the percentage of boric acid in the present Cabinet?
Mr John Simpson
, Taunton
asked the Minister of Health whether any shipments of liquid yolk of egg from China were rejected or condemned by his Department in the year 1922 owing to the excessive amount of preservative used, or for other reasons; and what steps, if any, are taken by his Department to ensure that preparations of such preserved yolk of egg are not used in food-stuffs to the detriment of the public health?
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN:
The seizure of unsound food with a view to its condemnation is not undertaken by my Department, but by local authorities, including port,sanitary authorities. I understand that about 200 tons of liquid yolk were dealt with as unsound by the London authorities in 1922, but I am not aware whether any proportion of these consignments was condemned owing to an excessive amount of preservative. The arrangements made for the protection of the public against the excessive consumption of preservative due to the use of liquid egg are set out in a Circular issued to local authorities by my Department on the 20th ultimo. I am sending the hon. Member a copy.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
