– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 February 1975.
Mr Norman Tebbit
, Waltham Forest Chingford
12:00,
11 February 1975
asked the Prime Minister if, during the period in which Ministers will be allowed to speak against the Government's recommendations on EEC membership, he will arrange for Ministers to state explicitly that they are so doing when they dissent from the recommendation.
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
No, Sir.
Mr Norman Tebbit
, Waltham Forest Chingford
Why not? Why not start now, as the Secretary of State for Trade is making speeches which show him opposed to membership on any terms? Could we have a Cabinet committee to control the Secretary of State for Trade, as well as one that controls the Secretary of State for Industry?
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
I find it difficult to follow the hon. Gentleman's convolutions, but it is not necessary to do what he asks. When the Cabinet makes a recommendation to the country in relation to the referendum, he need have no fear that any who might wish to act in accordance with the proposed agreement to differ will not identify themselves, but if the hon. Gentleman is worried I shall identify them for him.
Mr Roy Hughes
, Newport (Monmouthshire/Gwent)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is only fair and reasonable that the Minister who is to have responsibility for the National Enterprise Board should explain how membership of the Common Market would interfere with the activities of the board? Likewise, should not someone explain how the development plans of the coal and steel industries would be affected?
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
I am sure that the last thing my hon. Friend would want to do is prejudge the negotiations. There were some serious unsolved problems in the previous negotiations. These matters are being taken up in the negotiations, and they will be dealt with by the Government as a whole when we see the outcome of the negotiations.
Mr Robert Carr
, Sutton Carshalton
Will the Prime Minister clarify one point on collective responsibility? We understand that during the referendum campaign Ministers will be free to talk according to their personal views. After the referendum campaign, when the matter is debated again in the House will the Prime Minister restore collective responsibility?
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that many of my hon. Friends have made clear they will accept the judgment of the country in this matter, so I think he is asking about an extremely hypothetical situation. Should he or anyone on his front bench wish to make any representations to me on how collective responsibility works, I shall be interested to consider it.
Mr Jeremy Thorpe
, North Devon
Is the Prime Minister aware that this Question is unnecessary? We already know which Ministers are for the Common Market and which are against it. The only interest is in those who are reserving their position, including the Prime Minister. We want to see to which side of the fence they will topple.
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. He will understand that we fought the election on the question of renegotiating the terms. We do not know the terms, but when we do we shall make our recommendation to the House. The right hon. Gentleman is prejudging the discussion without even knowing what the terms are.
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.
Cabinet committees are established by the prime minister to enable the cabinet to deal more efficiently with the large volume of government business.
All cabinet committees are chaired by the prime minister or a senior cabinet minister and will have a number of cabinet ministers as members. Some are permanent committees while others are set up to deal with particular issues as they arise.
Cabinet committees carry out the bulk of cabinet work and the decisions they take have the authority of full cabinet. If a committee cannot agree on an issue it will be sent to the full cabinet for a final decision.
Some cabinet committees have sub-committees that do not usually taking final decisions on policy, but can enable important discussion of those issues which range across government departments.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
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.
The first bench on either side of the House of Commons, reserved for ministers and leaders of the principal political parties.
