– in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 12 Ebrill 1948.
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
12:00,
12 Ebrill 1948
asked the Minister of Transport whether he will exercise his powers under Section 4 (6) of the Transport Act, 1947, in order to ascertain what is the practice of the British Transport Commission as to the display of party political posters on premises occupied by the Commission or by its subordinate executives.
Mr Alfred Barnes
, East Ham South
It was not the practice of the railway companies or of the London Passenger Transport Board to accept posters of a political and controversial nature, apart from those confined to the announcement of meetings, and I have no reason to suppose that the British Transport Commission will not exercise a proper discretion in this matter.
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
When the right hon. Gentleman says he has no reason to suppose that the directions will be altered, does that mean that he has relied purely on speculation in answering a Parliamentary Question?
Mr Alfred Barnes
, East Ham South
This procedure is very well defined in railway administration, and, therefore, as I say, I have no reason to suppose that there will be any change.
Mr Edward Evans
, Lowestoft
Is my right hon. Friend aware that on several occasions the Metropolitan line advertised a very warm invitation to join the Tory Party?
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 political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
