Oral Answers to Questions — Trade and Commerce. – in the House of Commons at on 9 September 1941.
Mr Thomas Horabin
, Cornwall Northern
asked the Minister of Economic Warfare whether he will give the names of companies which have sup plied oil to North Africa during the last two months; and the amount supplied by each?
Mr Hugh Dalton
, Bishop Auckland
Only one cargo of oil pro ducts reached North Africa during the months of July and August. This was the cargo shipped on the s.s. "Scheherezade", with the approval of the United States Government. The total amount of the cargo was 17,101 tons, almost all of which consisted of gasoline and kerosene. The consignors of 5,281 tons of the shipment were the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. The consignors of the remainder were the Socony Oil Company.
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
Do we understand that all supplies from the United States to North Africa have now been suspended?
Mr Hugh Dalton
, Bishop Auckland
That is a different question. I was asked about cargoes of oil for the last two months.
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.
