Oral Answers to Questions — Irish Free State. – in the House of Commons at on 28 July 1924.
Mr John Gretton
, Burton
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if any representations or requests for the release of Mr. Art O'Brien and Mr. Sean M`Grath have been made to any Departments or any Ministers of the British Government by the Government of the Irish Free State or by any Ministers or responsible person connected with that Government; and, if so, will he make a full statement to the House as to the negotiations which have taken place?
Mr William Bridgeman
, Oswestry
Did the Government never consult the Free State as to the persons referred to in this question, and if not, on what principle did they change their mind in a fortnight?
Mr William Bridgeman
, Oswestry
Am I to understand from the right hon. Gentleman that the Free State Government were not consulted?
Mr. THOMAS:
The right hon. Gentleman is certainly not to understand that. The Supplementary question put to me was: did negotiations take place with the Free State Government. My answer is that the circumstances in relation to the release of these persons was in the jurisdiction of the Home Office and not of my office.
Mr John Gretton
, Burton
Does the right hon. Gentleman mean to say that the release of these two persons was effected without any consultation with him, and behind his back by the Home Secretary?
Mr. THOMAS:
The release of these people was a decision of the Cabinet.
Mr William Bridgeman
, Oswestry
Did the Home Secretary consult the right hon. Gentleman as responsible Minister here?
Mr. THOMAS:
I am a Member of the Cabinet.
Mr John Jones
, West Ham Silvertown
May I ask—[Interruption]—it is all very well for you, but I am an Irishman. Were the Free State Government consulted officially as to the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York to Northern Ireland?
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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.
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.
