Oral Answers to Questions — Palestine – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 29 October 1947.
Mr David Grenfell
, Gower
12:00,
29 October 1947
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether adequate precautions are being taken to ensure that arms and ammunition supplied to Arab countries by His Majesty's Government shall not be used for aggression against Palestine or sent into Palestine for illegal purposes by Arabs.
Mr Ernest Bevin
, Wandsworth Central
Military equipment furnished by His Majesty's Government to Arab countries has been supplied to meet bona fide defence and internal security requirements. The strictest precautions are taken to prevent any smuggling of arms into Palestine.
Mr George House
, St Pancras North
Can greater precautions be taken against the stealing of rifles and Sten guns? I understand that on the Arab side £50 is paid for a rifle and £200 for a Sten gun.
Major Lyall Wilkes
, Newcastle upon Tyne Central
In view of the fact that at present we have military missions in all the major Arab countries and that there is a constant flow of supplies to them, and in view also of the fact that on 14th May last the Minister of Defence informed me that we have recently supplied 40 military aircraft, 298 carriers, and 38 scout cars to one of those countries, is it not time that a review was made of that flow of military supplies?
Mr Ernest Bevin
, Wandsworth Central
Now that we are under treaty obligations to the Arab countries and they are partners with us in defence, we have no intention of breaking those agreements.
Mr Samuel Silverman
, Nelson and Colne
Can my right hon. Friend say whether the House is to rely on newspaper reports of the speeches made by the Colonial Secretary to the United Nations for its knowledge of His Majesty's Government's policy or whether any statement is ever going to be made to the House?
Mr Ernest Bevin
, Wandsworth Central
That does not arise on this Question.
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.
