Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Justice – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 10 November 2009.
Dominic Grieve
Shadow Secretary of State (Justice)
2:30,
10 November 2009
The Minister's comments are pure bluster. The situation is actually much worse than that. The Director of Public Prosecutions is now reviewing the Government's caution culture. Will the Minister explain how we have a situation in which a 15-year-old boy can be cautioned for rape and a man can be cautioned for glassing a woman in a pub? Is that the hon. Lady's idea of summary justice?
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.
