Oral Answers to Questions — Trade and Commerce. – in the House of Commons at on 28 June 1933.
Mr Robert Rankin
, Liverpool Kirkdale
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps are taken by his Department to ensure that officials serving overseas whose passages are paid by the State travel solely by British ships?
Sir James Blindell
, Holland with Boston
It is well understood that, when passages for officials are provided by Government, they are to be booked by British ships in the absence of exceptional reasons to the contrary. The existing practice is based upon this principle, and no special steps are therefore necessary.
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.
