Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Germany – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 October 1949.
Mr Thomas Skeffington-Lodge
, Bedford
12:00,
31 October 1949
As the German authorities do not appear to be taking any action to counter these anti-democratic trends, will not the Minister look at this most serious matter again, especially as there is a raging, tearing, anti-British campaign going on at the present moment in Western Germany under the direction of editors of the new papers which are springing up, many of them former Nazis?
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.
