Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:36 pm on 1 December 2025.
Lord Singh of Wimbledon
Crossbench
2:36,
1 December 2025
My Lords, does the Minister agree that if we really want to help people in places such as South Sudan escape horrendous conflict and suffering, we need to do something about the runaway arms trade, in which arms are sold to friendly countries and then go on to other countries for crude economic gain? For example, India—the land of Mahatma Gandhi—sells arms to Russia; Russia, in turn, sells arms to Pakistan, again with the possibility of conflict.
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.
