Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Information. – in the House of Commons at on 16 October 1941.
Viscount Turnour
, Horsham and Worthing
asked the Minister of Information the number of persons who have proceeded, at his request or that of his predecessor, to the United States of America or Canada on a mission to present the point of view of the people of this country since July last; and whether they include any Members of this House?
Mr Ernest Thurtle
, Shoreditch
Four, Sir, of whom one was a Member of the House, and one other was a former Member.
Viscount Turnour
, Horsham and Worthing
In view of the fact that a large number of self-styled missionaries have gone to the United States and Canada and have done a great deal of harm there by their interference in local affairs, will my hon. Friend consider whether any means can be taken by his Department to discourage them from announcing that they are going on missions when in fact they are only going because of their own wishes?
Mr Ernest Thurtle
, Shoreditch
The Noble Lord may take it that it is the desire of the Minister that people should be discouraged from making such statements.
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.
