Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture, Fisheries and Food – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 20 December 1973.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough
, Jarrow
12:00,
20 December 1973
Does the hon. Lady not think it rather ironic that this Government have become party to a treaty that will increase food prices by between £20 million and £40 million in the year beginning 1st January when, at the same time, millions of workers are going to have their wages substantially reduced because of part-time work? Could not the Minister have repeated, in relation to these levies, what he said last week about putting butter into ice-cream—that he would be ashamed to go back to Britain if ever anyone said that that must be part of the policy of the EEC? Does the hon. Lady not think that the right hon. Gentleman might have used the veto, having regard to the difficult circumstances that we are facing on the industrial front?
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.
