Oral Answers to Questions — Motor Traffic. – in the House of Commons am ar 7 Gorffennaf 1925.
Mr Herbert Williams
, Reading
asked the Chancellor of the exchequer whether he is in a position to furnish any information in respect to the negotiations for a settlement of inter-Allied debts?
Mr Winston Churchill
, Epping
On the 26th June Notes were addressed to the French, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Rumanian and Serbian Governments stating that His Majesty's Government hoped to receive from each of the Governments concerned at an early date, definite proposals for cash payments in respect of their Debt. In these Notes attention was drawn to the statement which I made in this House on the 10th December, 1924, that
Any payments made by our debtors in Europe to. their creditors in the United States should be accompanied simultaneously pari passu by proportionate payments to Great Britain.
An acknowledgment has been received from the French and Portuguese Governments; the French Government, after
referring to certain preliminary conversations which have already taken place, confirm the statement recently made at Geneva to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by the French Minister of Finance that negotiations will be resumed very shortly with the desire to arrive at a speedy decision. The Italian Government, as I informed the hon. and gallant Member for South Hackney on the 30th June, have formally notified His Majesty's Government of their willingness to initiate conversations of a definite character for a friendly settlement of their War Debt to this country.
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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.
