Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Prisoners of War – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 10 Mehefin 1947.
Mr Richard Stokes
, Ipswich
12:00,
10 Mehefin 1947
Would my right hon. Friend bear in mind that while the right hon. Gentleman was Minister of Defence he was not Secretary of State for War; that the declaration was made over the wireless; and that my right hon. Friend will find the record not in the War Office, but in the B.B.C.?
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.
