– in the House of Commons am ar 6 Rhagfyr 1926.
Commander OLIVER LOCKERLAMPSON:
51.asked the Secretary of State For the Home Department how many Russians are now employed by Arcos and its subsidiary companies in England?
Sir Douglas Hacking
, Chorley
I am informed that 184 Soviet citizens are employed by Arcos and 216 by other companies in the United Kingdom.
Mr Robert Taylor
, Lincoln
Can the hon. Gentleman give us the number of English people employed by Arcos?
Sir Douglas Hacking
, Chorley
Not without notice.
Mr Robert Taylor
, Lincoln
Is it not the fact that they outnumber considerably the alien employés?
Sir Douglas Hacking
, Chorley
I cannot say without notice.
Mr Robert Taylor
, Lincoln
Can the hon. Gentleman say how many of the 184 consist of Russians who have come to this country since the revolution, and how many represent Russians resident here before?
Mr John Whitley
, Halifax
The Minister has already intimated that he must have notice of these supplementary questions.
Colonel Herbert Woodcock
, Liverpool Everton
Can the hon. Gentleman say how long these 184 aliens are going to be here?
Sir Lindsay Everard
, Melton
Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the Majority of the people of this country think it is 184 too many?
Mr George Hardie
, Glasgow Springburn
You must have people to speak the language; you have gat to bring them over.
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.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
