Part of Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 April 1991.
Mr Tam Dalyell
, Linlithgow
12:00,
18 April 1991
I apologise to the Minister for not having brought the report to his attention earlier. I had to check it because it was so incredible. Given the wealth that is going up in flames, does not the Treasury agree that it is beyond belief that Red Adair is complaining that he cannot get six bulldozers? He asked for a minimum of eight, but only two work. He is threatening to pull out. Do not the British Government have some responsibility— [HON. MEMBERS: "No."] Well, they do. Do not the British Government have some responsibility; should not they say to the Kuwaitis that, with such wealth being lost, they should do something about tackling the fires, as that will grow more difficult as times goes on?
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.
