Oral Answers to Questions — Food Supplies – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 August 1947.
Mr Nevil Beechman
, St Ives
12:00,
11 August 1947
asked the Minister of Food whether he will arrange for compensation to be paid to potato growers in Cornwall whose early potatoes were left unmarketed owing to circumstances over which they had no control.
Commander Sir Douglas Marshall
, Bodmin
asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the losses sustained by the Cornish farmers in relation to their early potato crop, owing to circumstances over which they had no control, he will arrange for adequate compensation.
Mr Evelyn Strachey
, Dundee
I cannot agree that any compensation should be paid; most of the early crop has been cleared and there is a local market for the rest, which should be cleared by mid-September.
Commander Sir Douglas Marshall
, Bodmin
May I ask the Minister whether or not he has received the letter I sent him, and, if he has received it, will he reconsider this matter in view of the specific details I wrote to him on the subject?
Mr Evelyn Strachey
, Dundee
Yes, I have received the hon. Member's letter and the enclosure, but the enclosure is not accurate. We have extended the period in view of the difficult weather conditions we have encountered, of which his correspondent did not seem aware, and in general I think we have met these growers pretty fairly.
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.
