Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 March 1970.
Mr Peter Blaker
, Blackpool South
12:00,
12 March 1970
asked the Prime Minister which Minister is responsible for implementing the Nassau Agreement.
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and for Defence work closely together on all matters arising from the Nassau Agreement.
Mr Peter Blaker
, Blackpool South
Does the right hon. Gentleman recall that on 26th February he told the House that the Government would withdraw our nuclear deterrent from N.A.T.O. only if N.A.T.O. ceased to exist? Does he also recall that on 5th December, 1967, he said that we reserved the right to withdraw it after consultation with N.A.T.O.? Since the conflict between those two statements was not cleared up in last week's defence debate, would the right hon. Gentleman now say which statement represents the true position?
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
I have answered Questions on this subject twice recently. I said that the matter could be dealt with in that debate. If hon. Gentlemen opposite had cared to give my right hon. Friend a hearing in that debate they might have got the facts.
Mr Hugh Jenkins
, Wandsworth Putney
As my right hon. Friend has given notice of his intention to renegotiate the Nassau Agreement, will he now say when he expects the renegotiation process to begin?
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
I said that in view of the fact that the arrangements made with N.A.T.O. were now satisfactory to us, I did not see any immediate urgency about that.
Mr Geoffrey Rippon
, Hexham
May I say to the right hon. Gentleman—
Dr Horace King
, Southampton, Itchen
Order. The right hon. and learned Gentleman must ask a question.
Mr Geoffrey Rippon
, Hexham
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that we greatly welcomed in the defence debate the Secretary of State's assurance that the British nuclear deterrent was fully independent and that it was the Government's intention to keep it so for the foreseeable future?
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
The right hon. and learned Gentleman, like other right hon. Gentlemen when dealing with this matter at Question Time, should quote the whole of what was said and not selectively quote my right hon. Friend. [An HON. MEMBER: "He was quite clear."] Of course he was quite clear; I heard him. What he said was perfectly true. It was not an independent deterrent in 1964 when we were dependent on the Americans. I am saying, and I said in 1964—the right hon. and learned Gentleman, who was a member of the Cabinet, knows it is true—that we were dependent on the Americans for the essential material to work it.
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.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
