– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 19 March 1947.
Major Ernest Bramall
, Bexley
12:00,
19 March 1947
asked the Minister of Defence if he will state the total value of equipment and the numbers of tanks, aircraft and field guns handed over by the British and Indian Forces to the Dutch Forces in the Netherlands East Indies.
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War to my hon. Friend the Member for Deritend (Mr. Longden) on 18th February. It is not possible to analyse, as regards either value or quantity, the equipment taken over by Dutch Forces in the Netherlands East Indies, separately from the total issues made to the Dutch Government from all sources and for all purposes.
Major Ernest Bramall
, Bexley
May we take it that no further arms will be provided for the Dutch Government with which to enable them to carry out a policy less enlightened than that which we are carrying out in India?
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
I think that my hon. Friend had better look at the Question to which I am referring. If we make these supplies available to the Dutch Government, we cannot say what detailed use they shall make of them.
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.
