Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Information. – in the House of Commons at on 10 December 1941.
Mr. Creech Jones:
asked the Minister of Information what are the duties of the director of Empire propaganda; whether the appointment is full-time; what are the qualifications of Lord Dufferin for the post; whether other names were considered when the recent appointment was made; at whose suggestion this appointment was considered; and whether the Central Register was consulted?
Mr Brendan Bracken
, Paddington North
The Acting Director of the Empire Division is responsible for the presentation of the British case in all Empire countries and for publicity in the United Kingdom and abroad about the Empire's war effort. The appointment is full-time. Lord Dufferin's qualifications are that he was for more than two years Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies; he was a member of the Indian Franchise Committee; and has been engaged on other official missions to the Colonies. In the course of a long search for the most suitable candidate for this post a large number of names were considered. Having consulted with my right hon. Friends, the Secretaries of State for the Dominions and the Colonies, I asked for Lord Dufferin to be temporarily released from the army.
Mr. Creech Jones:
Is the Minister aware of the very considerable uneasiness felt everywhere in regard to this appointment, and will he also say how Lord Dufferin can reconcile his full-time appointment with new work of a very exacting kind which has been given to him at the Colonial Office?
Mr Brendan Bracken
, Paddington North
Let me explain first to the hon. Gentleman that for six months my predecessor and I tried to find a head for this important Department. I regarded it as almost scandalous that the Department had not a head. We went through a lengthy list of names and made offers for this post. I do not know why they were refused; perhaps those refusing did not think well of the Ministry of Information. I was strongly recommended, therefore, to take Lord Dufferin, in view of his great experience and intelligence, and I loaned him from the army. Lord Dufferin did not want to be borrowed from the Army, but I persuaded him that it was his duty to take the post in the interests of the State.
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.
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.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
