Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture, Fisheries and Food – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 22 Tachwedd 1956.
Mr Arthur Palmer
, Cleveland
12:00,
22 Tachwedd 1956
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will now take steps to carry out the recommendations of the Food Standards Committee that there should be standards of meat content for pork and beef sausages.
Mr. Amory:
I am at present considering observations on the Committee's recommendations from the interests affected. Some of these comments have only reached me recently and further consultation may be necessary before my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Health and I, who are jointly responsible, can announce our decision.
Mr Arthur Palmer
, Cleveland
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, because of the danger of mistaking the Shadow for the substance in this matter, the better types of butcher, including the co-operative societies, are very much in favour of the establishment of such a standard?
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.
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.
The shadow cabinet is the name given to the group of senior members from the chief opposition party who would form the cabinet if they were to come to power after a General Election. Each member of the shadow cabinet is allocated responsibility for `shadowing' the work of one of the members of the real cabinet.
The Party Leader assigns specific portfolios according to the ability, seniority and popularity of the shadow cabinet's members.
