Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 December 1964.
Mr Anthony Greenwood
, Rossendale
12:00,
11 December 1964
May I answer the second part of the right hon. Gentleman's question first, and, at the same time, thank him for his kind remarks? The attitude of the Government on the retention of the base was set out by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 30th November, and that, of course, remains the policy of Her Majesty's Government.
On the right hon. Gentleman's first question about the initiative for this change, from a federal form of government to a unitary government, it is true to say that the minds of a number of responsible people in the Federation had been moving in that direction over the last few weeks, and shortly before my visit joint meetings between the Ministers had begun. They were continued during the course of my visit. I emphasised that a switch towards a unitary system of government would be acceptable to us in this country and I was encouraged that they came down quite firmly on that side during the last day of my visit.
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.
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.
