Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Office – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 24 June 2008.
Keith Vaz
Chair, Home Affairs Committee, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee, Chair, Home Affairs Committee
2:30,
24 June 2008
I welcome the fact that the Minister went to Aden, the city of my birth, and acknowledge the fact that he returned from his visit. No one fired any shots at him, no one directed any bombs at him; he came back safely. So why does the Foreign Office continue to pursue a travel advice policy that prevents business persons and tourists from going to Yemen? Surely the best way in which to ensure good relations with the country is for us to allow our people to engage with the people of Yemen.
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.
