Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 27 June 2007.
David Blunkett
Labour, Sheffield, Brightside
11:30,
27 June 2007
I only learned Esperanto, so I cannot add to that. On behalf of the little part of the planet that I represent, I thank the Prime Minister for what he has done in transforming the lives of so many people in the Brightside Constituency and across the world.
Does the Prime Minister agree that record police numbers, tough new sentences for the most dangerous criminals and zero tolerance of antisocial behaviour, together with 2.5 million new jobs, record investment in education and Sure Start centres across the country, is precisely what he meant by
"tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime"?
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.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
Annotations
helen fantom
Posted on 28 Jun 2007 9:30 pm (Report this annotation)
And pilot schools are using Esperanto to make primary school children more aware of other languages.
Marcelo Casartelli
Posted on 29 Jun 2007 4:20 am (Report this annotation)
If a former Education Secretary can only understand English, his native language, and Esperanto, that he learned at school, I can´t understand why the directives of UN want to impose that ordinary people in Europe must learn several languages. I think that more logical would be to teach Esperanto at school and the native language of each country.