Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:17 pm on 8 May 2007.
Lord Craig of Radley
Crossbench
3:17,
8 May 2007
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. There continue to be very disturbing media reports of shortages, quoting service personnel in theatre, including a report about combat vehicles, which prompted my Question. Another report yesterday, headed:
"Army equipment cupboard is bare", suggests that,
"Even troops preparing to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan will have at best a third"— only—
"of the equipment they need".
Does not this indicate a shortage of equipment overall for the forces undertaking the tasks that they have been set by this Government?
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.
