– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 25 July 1944.
Mr Arthur Greenwood
, Wakefield
12:00,
25 July 1944
Has the Leader of the House any statement to make about an alteration in Business and will such alteration affect the Prime Minister's forthcoming statement?
Mr Anthony Eden
, Warwick and Leamington
There is no change in the arrangement for the Prime Minister's statement and the Debate on the war situation but, as regards this week, in order to allow more time for consultation, we propose to postpone the Second Reading of the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Bill, which was announced for Friday, and to take instead the Second Reading of the Consolidated Fund Bill, upon which a Debate on Indian affairs will take place. We propose to take the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Bill in the following week.
Mr Francis Bowles
, Nuneaton
Will the Prime Minister's statement be made on the Consolidated Fund Bill?
Mr Anthony Eden
, Warwick and Leamington
Yes, and the Debate will take place.
Sir Godfrey Nicholson
, Farnham
Is there any likelihood of extending the time for the Indian Debate if a large number of Members want to speak? We have had only one Debate on India in the whole of the Session, and it is a large subject.
Mr Anthony Eden
, Warwick and Leamington
It is a Friday and it has never been our custom to extend our hours on a Friday. I should like to consider it.
Mr Walter Elliot
, Glasgow Kelvingrove
In view of the conclusion of the Bretton Woods Conference, can my right hon. Friend say if an opportunity will be offered to the House for consideration of the results of that Conference before we rise?
Mr Anthony Eden
, Warwick and Leamington
No, it was not the intention of the Government to provide facilities for that before the House rises.
Mr John Tinker
, Leigh
If the right hon. Gentleman gets any information about the position in Germany, I suppose he will make it known to the House?
Mr Anthony Eden
, Warwick and Leamington
Yes, I think the hon. Member may be assured of that. If I have been specially cautious to-day, it was after consideration by the Cabinet last night and we thought that a cautious note was the right one to strike.
Sir Richard Denman
, Leeds Central
Does the right hon. Gentleman propose to make any reference to the German reply to our representations on the shot officers?
Mr Anthony Eden
, Warwick and Leamington
I should like to see that on the Paper.
The Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
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.
