– in the House of Commons am ar 2 Gorffennaf 1925.
Major-General Sir NEWTON MOORE:
53.asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of his suggestion that he would welcome any proposals to assist industry and relieve unemployment, he will be prepared to appoint a Committee1 of the House to originate, examine, investigate, and submit for his consideration any schemes that might contribute to the solution of this serious problem?
Mr Austen Chamberlain
, Birmingham West
My right hon. Friend doubts whether a Select Committee would be the most effective machinery for dealing with this matter. There is a Committee of the Cabinet which keeps it continuously under consideration in all its aspects, and the Government are always prepared to examine any scheme or suggestion that may be put forward.
Mr William Mackinder
, Shipley
Does not the right hon. Gentleman think that a scheme prepared after careful consideration by, say, a Select Committee of Members of this House, would be much better than the casual observations which are the best the Cabinet can do, with the amount of work they have?
Mr Austen Chamberlain
, Birmingham West
I do not accept the hon. Gentleman's description of the normal character of Cabinet discussions or decisions, whether in the case of this Cabinet or any other, but, with the highest respect for this House, I assure hon. Members that a Select Committee is not the best body for this purpose.
Mr William Mackinder
, Shipley
On a point of explanation. I wish to say that I did not mean any disrespect when I made that remark.
Major-General Hon. Sir Newton Moore
, Richmond (Surrey)
Might I draw the right hon. Gentleman's attention to the fact that the Prime Minister asked for suggestions during the Debate, but that Members on this side had practically no opportunity, as practically the whole of the time was occupied by right hon. Gentlemen and others on the front bench?
Mr Austen Chamberlain
, Birmingham West
I think my hon. and gallant Friend will agree that the answer I have given to him indicates that we shall welcome any suggestions from him or from any other hon. Members; but we do not think that a Select Committee is the best method.
Mr George Hardie
, Glasgow Springburn
May I ask to whom these suggestions should be submitted? This vague kind of way is no good for getting sound organisation.
Mr Austen Chamberlain
, Birmingham West
I would suggest that the suggestions be made to the Prime Minister himself.
Mr Ernest Thurtle
, Shoreditch
I take it that the last thing the right hon. Gentleman wants to stimulate is a stampede amongst the sheep?
Cabinet committees are established by the prime minister to enable the cabinet to deal more efficiently with the large volume of government business.
All cabinet committees are chaired by the prime minister or a senior cabinet minister and will have a number of cabinet ministers as members. Some are permanent committees while others are set up to deal with particular issues as they arise.
Cabinet committees carry out the bulk of cabinet work and the decisions they take have the authority of full cabinet. If a committee cannot agree on an issue it will be sent to the full cabinet for a final decision.
Some cabinet committees have sub-committees that do not usually taking final decisions on policy, but can enable important discussion of those issues which range across government departments.
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.
The first bench on either side of the House of Commons, reserved for ministers and leaders of the principal political parties.
