Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Defence – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 10 June 1964.
Mr Stanley McMaster
, Belfast East
12:00,
10 June 1964
asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will now formulate a requirement for a strategic jet transport aircraft to meet the needs of Her Majesty's forces after 1970.
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
Requirements in this field are already fully provided for until the mid-seventies. Requirements for the latter half of the seventies have not yet been submitted for my approval. I am, however, in the early stages of considering with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Aviation what kind of strategic aircraft we might need beyond the next decade.
Mr Stanley McMaster
, Belfast East
Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Minister of Aviation told me last week that, in certain cases, it takes up to 10 years between the formulation of a requirement and the plane coming into service? Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that we have enough transport aircraft now on order to meet our requirements in the mid-1970s and beyond?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
We have aircraft planned or on order for the mid-1970s, but we are considering various possibilities beyond that period.
Mr John Cronin
, Loughborough
Is it not the case that 13 years of Conservative Government have not produced for Transport Command a single strategic freighter, if one excludes the limited cargo-carrying capacity of passenger aircraft? Is the Government's death-bed repentance to be effective?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
The Belfast is surely a strategic freighter.
Mr Stanley McMaster
, Belfast East
Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Belfast was successfully demonstrated at Northolt today and that three will be flying by the Farnborough Air Show?
Mr Fred Mulley
, Sheffield Park
Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied with the very modest planned development of Transport Command ever the next 10 years and that the increasing need for flexibility and mobility will be met by this development?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
The development is not modest. It includes the Belfast, the VC. 10 and the OR.351. This is a vast and necessarily expensive programme that is well in train.
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.
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.
