Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 4 December 1973.
Although I agree entirely with the Minister, whom I welcome to his position today, in particular may I add that I thought that if anybody was in need of protection from unfair employment, it was the right hon. Gentleman, who was plunged at short notice into this highly controversial debate. But he did as well as anybody could in the circumstances—which is not to say that he did very well.
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.
