Oral Answers to Questions — Civil Aviation – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 17 December 1947.
Mr Luke Teeling
, Brighton
12:00,
17 December 1947
asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation what is the present position concerning an allocation of films for the B.O.A.C. staff at Augusta, Sicily; and whether Augusta will remain a B.O.A.C. port of call after 31st December, 1947.
Mr George Lindgren
, Wellingborough
The first part of the Question is a matter of management and is the responsibility of the Corporation. Future staging post facilities in Italy for B.O.A.C. flying boat services are under discussion with the Italian authorities.
Mr Luke Teeling
, Brighton
With regard to the first part of the Question, is the hon. Gentleman aware that the company is hoping, and has been hoping, to get these films and that nothing has been done about it? Is it not within the purview of the Minister to do something about it? With regard to the second part of the Question, will he definitely answer me whether or not Augusta has been turned down by the Italians after 31st December, which is very near now?
Mr George Lindgren
, Wellingborough
As to the first part of the Question, it is a matter of staff welfare in which the operator and the staff are desirous of providing facilities for persons in isolated spots. Any and every facility we as a Ministry and His Majesty's Government can properly give to the operator, we will give. As to the second part of the Question, Augusta is being operated under an interim agreement until a commercial agreement is negotiated. Those negotiations are at present being carried on, and we hope they will be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
Mr. E. P. Smith:
Can the hon. Gentleman say whether the name "Augusta, Sicily" is the name of a "Tory brat?"
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.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
