Oral Answers to Questions — Southern Rhodesia – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 21 July 1964.
Mr James Dempsey
, Coatbridge and Airdrie
12:00,
21 July 1964
asked the Prime Minister if the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference discussed the problem of export credits between the Commonwealth countries.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
The communiqué issued at the end of our Meeting was agreed by all the Prime Ministers, and it would not be right for me to add to what we have said about the topics that were discussed.
Mr James Dempsey
, Coatbridge and Airdrie
Is the Prime Minister aware that very recently a radio network in one of the Commonwealth countries announced that that country now regards itself as being within the American sphere of influence because of the trading terms it enjoys from American suppliers? Does not the Prime Minister regard this as a threat to the development of the Commonwealth, and should we not have some assurance that our trading terms will be much more attractive than those of America or any other competitor?
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
Following the Geneva meeting the other day, the question whether a multilateral export credit insurance scheme could be devised was referred to the International Bank. I think that probably we had better wait for the International Bank's findings before we pursue this much further.
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.