– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 25 July 1949.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
12:00,
25 July 1949
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the nature of the agreement between His Majesty's Government and the Government of the United States of America for exchange of information about the atomic bomb.
Mr Christopher Mayhew
, Norfolk Southern
There is no such agreement, but His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom co-operate with the Canadian and United States Governments in the exchange of information on a limited number of topics related to atomic energy.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
Have the Government informed the United States that, owing to the need for economy in Government expenditure, we propose to cut all expenditure on atom bomb manufacture until the dollar crisis is over?
Sir Arthur Harvey
, Macclesfield
Did the Minister ask his hon. Friend to withdraw this Question, as he asked me to withdraw my Question a fortnight ago?
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.
