– in the House of Commons at on 19 June 1941.
Sir James Henderson-Stewart
, Fife Eastern
asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the declaration, on15th June, by the Minister of Labour and National Service that it is clear that in the war effort the command of the Navy, Army and Air Force must be united; whether this represents the considered view of His Majesty's Government; and what changes are contemplated in the commands of the three services?
Mr Winston Churchill
, Epping
I understand from my right hon. Friend that he did not intend to make a declaration of the kind suggested. In his speech on 15th June he stressed that the Government was one of national unity, expressing the united will of the people, and that this unity at the top was reflected right down, in the Services and all branches of the war effort. The arrangements for securing unity of direction of the Armed Forces through the Office of the Minister of Defence and the Defence Committee are known to the House, and no change in them is contemplated.
Sir James Henderson-Stewart
, Fife Eastern
May I ask whether my right hon. Friend does, not appreciate the concern caused by the report of the speech, which was contained in the "Times," of 16th June, where my right hon. Friend is stated to have said:
It was clear that in the war effort the command of the Navy, Army and Air Force must be united, and the example of that unity must be reflected from the top"?
In view of the principle of Cabinet responsibility, is it not natural that the country should have assumed that my right hon. Friend was talking as a member of the Cabinet in making this important statement?
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.
