– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 October 1949.
Mr David Gammans
, Hornsey
12:00,
31 October 1949
asked the Minister of Labour if his attention has been drawn to a circular issued by the 1/264 branch of the Transport and General Workers' Union in Billingsgate Market to the effect that Danish fish will only be handled provided that all consignments come through Billingsgate and are handled only by licensed porters who are members of the union; and what steps he proposes to take to safeguard the fish supplies from this source.
Mr George Isaacs
, Southwark North
Yes, Sir, I have seen this circular. I understand that there is now no difficulty.
Mr David Gammans
, Hornsey
Will the Minister say what in fact he has done? Is he not prepared to condemn a circular put out by the Transport and General Workers' Union couched in these terms? Is he merely going to say "there is now no difficulty"?
Mr George Isaacs
, Southwark North
I say there is now no difficulty. There was no stoppage of work and no difficulty has been created. So far as the Minister of Labour is concerned, there is nothing to intervene about.
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.
