Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 March 1949.
Mr Robert Boothby
, Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Eastern
12:00,
18 March 1949
In extending warm congratulations to the right hon. Gentleman on the successful outcome of long and skilful negotiations, I should just like to express one hope, and I am sure that the Minister of Defence, who is here, will share it: that an early result of this Pact will be the closest possible co-ordination between the defence forces of the signatory Powers and, wherever practicable, going to the point of standardisation of weapons and equipment, so that there can be the most complete co-ordination and that we can continue working towards one united defence force for Western civilisation as a whole.
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.
