Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Trade and Industry – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 1 November 1989.
Eric Forth
, Mid Worcestershire
12:00,
1 November 1989
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may be saintly, but I hope that he will not become a Trappist. The hon. Member for Bootle (Mr. Roberts) did not listen to my answer, which was very straightforward. There has been a perfectly sensible reordering of activities within Government, with the result that figures which were previously available through the vehicle of British Businesswill now be available in an alternative way. There is nothing particularly sinister or difficult about that.
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.