Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 29 April 1948.
Mr Denis Pritt
, Hammersmith North
12:00,
29 April 1948
It seems to me that the Minister has disclosed rather a serious position and one in which he might be able to bring forward some stronger case for the allocation of steel for this purpose. He is admitting and condoning a position in which a continuous series of public nuisances is being caused by an industry which is no doubt doing a very useful task. But if the local authorities were doing this duty, the problem would be solved in a few months because, having obtained an injunction, these factories could be shut down. If an injunction were obtained, the court might perhaps suspend its operation while someone got busy making this plant.
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.
