– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 October 1949.
Mr William Gallacher
, Fife Western
12:00,
31 October 1949
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the support given by this House to the proposal for the banning and destruction of all atomic weapons, with international control and inspection, he will now change his attitude and support this proposal at the United Nations.
Mr Christopher Mayhew
, Norfolk Southern
I am not certain to which proposal the hon. Member refers, if he means the plan which has been prepared by the Majority of the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, then I would remind him that His Majesty's Government have consistently supported the plan, and will continue to do so.
Mr William Gallacher
, Fife Western
If the hon. Gentleman will look in HANSARD, he will know well enough to what I was referring. I was referring to the proposition for the destruction of all atomic weapons and to international control and inspection simultaneously, which was supported by the Minister of Health, the Home Secretary and back benchers in this House. Will the hon. Gentleman and his right hon. Friend support that proposal?
Mr Christopher Mayhew
, Norfolk Southern
If I understand the hon. Gentleman aright in his description of the proposal, the answer is "No, Sir."
Mr William Gallacher
, Fife Western
Might I ask, in view of the fact that this received generous support from the front bench, including the Minister of Health, the Home Secretary, and from back benchers, why it is that the Minister refuses to give it his support? If the hon. Gentleman will look at HANSARD, he will see that the support was given by the Front Bench—
Mr Douglas Clifton Brown
, Hexham
We have already had the answer, "No, Sir."
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.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
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.
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