Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 4 May 1955.
Mr George Thomson
, Dundee East
12:00,
4 May 1955
May I point out that Question No. 79 about Formosa, which is on the Order Paper for answer today, was put down to the Prime Minister and was transferred by him to the Foreign Secretary, although the Prime Minister personally intervened in the House a day or two ago to deal with the particular point? Is not the Prime Minister wantonly throwing away his last opportunities to answer Questions?
The order paper is issued daily and lists the business which will be dealt with during that day's sitting of the House of Commons.
It provides MPs with details of what will be happening in the House throughout the day.
It also gives details of when and where the standing committees and select committees of the Commons will be meeting.
Written questions tabled to ministers by MPs on the previous day are listed at the back of the order paper.
The order paper forms one section of the daily vote bundle and is issued by the Vote Office
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.
