Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Japan – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 February 1947.
Mr Christopher Mayhew
, Norfolk Southern
12:00,
24 February 1947
Instructions are issued to Mr. Ball on behalf of the Governments which he represents by the Australian Minister for External Affairs, who is responsible for co-ordinating their views. Mr. Ball also maintains consultation with persons designated by the Governments which he represents to act as his advisers in Tokyo. A member of the United Kingdom Liaison Mission acts as the United Kingdom adviser to Mr. Ball, and through this channel the latter is kept aware of His Majesty's Government's general policy on questions of the kind which come before the Council.
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.
