Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture – in the House of Commons at on 25 March 1943.
Mr Robert Morgan
, Stourbridge
asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the growing rat pest, he will investigate the possibility of encouraging the raising of a strain of cats specially suited for dealing with rats on the lines of a similar strain formerly cultivated at Le Havre in France for use in connection with ships?
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.