Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 August 1947.
Mr. Morrison:
That is a bit unkind since there is no suggestion as to how long he is going to be away. If there has been any slip-up at the Board of Trade in that there is no Minister here to answer the Question, I am very sorry and I will take the matter up.
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.
