Part of Fuel and Electricity (Control) Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 29 November 1973.
These contracts—apparently at times of an emergency and at other times—can be broken at will. The Minister has had the opportunity of speaking to Sheikh Yamani. He may have it in mind that this emergency may pass within the course of the next year, which I would have thought would be adequate. The Financial Times of 28th November reported that Sheikh Yamani had said that Western European countries like Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom which were affected by restrictions against Holland could make up lost quantities by lifting oil direct from Algeria and Saudi Arabia. Now that the Minister has had an opportunity of coming face to face with Sheikh Yamani perhaps he will tell us whether he expects the crisis will last for more than one year. I should have thought not. Most of us know the answer, I think.
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.
