Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 13 December 1973.
Mr Joe Ashton
, Bassetlaw
12:00,
13 December 1973
Is the Prime Minister aware that following that meeting he is likely to go down in history as the Prime Minister who brought the nation to its knees because he was unable to handle a situation in which 1 per cent. of the nation's work force banned overtime and which is supposed to have plunged us into a crisis? Will he now consider his own position? Will he stop acting like Captain Bligh on a shipwrecked "Bounty" and consider handing over the helm to the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who seems to solve bigger problems with a lot less fuss and trouble?
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.
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.
