Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Trade and Industry – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 19 November 1973.
Mr Edward Bishop
, Newark
12:00,
19 November 1973
Has the Minister forgotten the almost contemptible way in which he brushed aside requests for a Select Committee by my hon. Friends and myself on the Second Reading and subsequent stages of the Concorde Aircraft Bill? Some of the justifiable concern and fears and some of the misrepresentations which have now been made about the future of Concorde are due to the Minister's failure to publish the kind of information that people want. In view of the more recent views and criticisms of the Public Accounts Committee, will the Minister reconsider his decision not to set up a Select Committee so that we may be assured on Concorde and have the kind of replies which may justify its future and its viability?
The Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
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.
