Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:56 pm on 20 October 2003.
Baroness Byford
Conservative
2:56,
20 October 2003
My Lords, is not the Minister concerned that Bayer, for example, and now Monsanto, are withdrawing from field trials—Bayer, in particular, because it cannot guarantee that the trials will be completed? Would it not be sensible for those six-figure digits not to be placed on the web? It is right that they should be known, but to allow people to come to trash trials blocks those trials. Is he not fearful for the future development of crops in seed production?
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.
