Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 20 November 1991.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd
, Morecambe and Lunesdale
12:00,
20 November 1991
As I have already said, the Government are seriously concerned about the shootings in East Timor on 12 November. My noble Friend the Minister of State expressed that concern to the Indonesian ambassador on 13 November. We are urgently seeking clarification of the reports of further shootings on 15 November.
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.
