Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 23 June 1964.
Mr William Ross
, Kilmarnock
12:00,
23 June 1964
Will the Prime Minister use his influence as Prime Minister, if not as a Scottish Constituency Member, to ensure that this matter is dealt with sympathetically? Will he bear in mind the concern which he expressed last Thursday and the anxiety which he seemed to evince then to get a chance of doing something constructive? Will he also bear in mind mat the youth work of the Church has not been made very much easier by the willingness of Governments of which he has been a member to make more readily available to young people facilities for drinking and betting, and, now, by the unrestricted spread of gaming clubs?
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.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
