Oral Answers to Questions — Food Supplies. – in the House of Commons at on 1 February 1940.
Mr Ernest Thurtle
, Shoreditch
(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for War whether he has any statement to make with regard to the matters raised in the Debate on the Motion for the Adjournment of the House last night?
Hon. Oliver Stanley
, Westmorland
I understand that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Supply is seeding to me to-day the papers relevant to the matters raised in Debate last night by the hon. Member. In view of the allegations made publicly against two military officers, it is clearly in the public interest that the matter should be immediately investigated and no other course would be fair to the officers concerned. I propose, therefore, to institute such an inquiry at once, and I am considering what form it should take. Pending the result of the inquiry, I have thought it proper to suspend the officers from duty.
An adjournment is a break in the course of parliamentary business.
The House adjourns at the end of each day's business.
On a daily basis the House adjourns, or breaks, half an hour after the moving of the adjournment debate.
The House is also adjourned for several holiday periods during the session.
The more lengthy adjournments - often coinciding with the academic calendar - are known as recesses.
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.
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.
