Oral Answers to Questions — Housing – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 4 July 1963.
Mr Frank Allaun
, Salford East
12:00,
4 July 1963
asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will state his estimate of council house building programmes for 1963, 1964 and 1965.
Sir Keith Joseph
, Leeds North East
I expect to see an increase of about 6 per cent. in the number of houses approved for local authorities and new towns during 1963. I would not wish to make precise forecasts for subsequent years, but I would refer the hon. Member to the steadily expanding programme envisaged in the recent Housing white paper.
Mr Frank Allaun
, Salford East
Surely the totals that the Minister has in mind are quite inadequate to meet the long waiting lists of those who cannot afford to buy houses. Surely, when we could build 190,000 houses way back in 1948, we can do better today, and not far worse?
Sir Keith Joseph
, Leeds North East
As the hon. Member knows, practically every building craftsman in England and Wales is fully employed on building. Under a Tory Government there is a simultaneous record programme on every side of social investment, including housing.
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.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
