Oral Answers to Questions — Trade and Commerce. – in the House of Commons am ar 27 Mai 1924.
Mr Walter Baker
, Bristol East
asked the President of the Board of Trade when it is proposed to introduce the Anti-Profiteering Bill which has been prepared?
Lieut.-Colonel Sir FREDERICK HALL:
21.asked the President of the Board of Trade whether it is intended to introduce in the present Session a Bill to deal with trusts and combines; and whether the proposals contained in such Measure will have any effect on the estimated revenue from direct taxation for the present financial year?
Sir F. HALL:
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade stated in Sheffield only a few days ago that the right hon. Gentleman and the Parliamentary Secretary had already produced a skeleton Bill on this subject; is it the intention of the Government to bring it forward?
Sir F. HALL:
Is this another case of Ministers snaking statements in public without Cabinet responsibility?
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
