– in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 28 Ionawr 1964.
Mr Desmond Donnelly
, Pembrokeshire
12:00,
28 Ionawr 1964
asked the Prime Minister what reply he received to his message to President Nkrumah congratulating him on his escape from assassination.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
I have received a personal message from President Nkrumah thanking me for the message I sent after the recent attempt on his life.
Mr Desmond Donnelly
, Pembrokeshire
While I am sure that the House accepts the fact that it is perfectly permissible and understandable for the Prime Minister to congratulate any other Prime Minister who has escaped assassination, will the right hon. Gentleman answer two points? First, in the case of Ghana, is he aware that there are certain specific circumstances and the repression of black men by black men is no less repugnant than the repression of black men by white men? Will he make it perfectly clear that any congratulations he sent to President Nkrumah in no way implied the support of Her Majesty's Government for the policies of the Government of Ghana?
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
There are no circumstances I can think of which justify attempts at assassination.
Sir John Hall
, Wycombe
May I ask my right hon. Friend whether he has conveyed to President Nkrumah his congratulations on the part which the President played so nobly in attempting to arrest his would-be assassin?
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.
