Oral Answers to Questions — British Army – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 28 October 1947.
Sir Edward Keeling
, Twickenham
12:00,
28 October 1947
asked the Secretary of State for War when the despatches about the Malayan campaign will be published.
Mr Richard Stokes
, Ipswich
asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is now in a position to state when the despatches covering the loss of the Malay Peninsula and Singapore will be published.
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
I regret that I am not yet in a position to make any forecast about the publication of these despatches.
Sir Edward Keeling
, Twickenham
Will the right hon. Gentleman state the cause of the delay? Will he give an assurance that it is not due to bad expert advice?
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
There appears to be some difficulty in obtaining agreement on this matter. The causes of delay are quite beyond my control, and were beyond the control of my predecessor.
Mr Richard Stokes
, Ipswich
Is the Minister aware that many of my constituents are very fed up with this intolerable delay? We lost more than two battalions of men from my neighbourhood, and we are after the blood of the person who landed troops who had no possibility of fighting at all.
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.
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.
