Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Energy – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 November 1991.
Frank Dobson
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
12:00,
11 November 1991
Why will not the Minister publish the secret reports that he is receiving on the future of the coal industry from Tory merchant bankers Rothschilds, whose privatisation unit is headed by the Tory candidate for Hampstead and Highgate? Are not the 60,000 miners and their families and those living in the coalfield communities, whose lives, livelihoods and communities are at stake, entitled to know? Is the right hon. Gentleman ashamed of what is in the reports? Is he frightened of them? If not, why cannot he come clean? Or will we have to rely on my getting the reports in plain brown envelopes a week or two after he has received them?
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
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.
