Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Defence – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 19 Chwefror 1964.
Mr Jon Rankin
, Glasgow Govan
12:00,
19 Chwefror 1964
asked the Minister of Defence why he has agreed to 18 months as the period for his experiment in a mixed-manned force.
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Sir Fynwy
The period has been agreed by the countries considering the mixed-manned surface ship proposal as a result of military advice tendered to them.
Mr Jon Rankin
, Glasgow Govan
Could not we have acquired in three months all the knowledge we need regarding the workability of the mixed-manned force? Did the right hon. Gentleman accept 18 months without demur because that period placed this important issue beyond the ambit of an election and because the Cabinet themselves on this issue have become a mixed-manned force in which no two speak the same language?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Sir Fynwy
I did not fix the period; it was fixed by military advice to an international committee meeting to consider these matters. Whatever else I have done, I do not think that I could have cut it down from 18 months to three.
Mr Jon Rankin
, Glasgow Govan
Is the right hon. Gentleman saying that on every occasion the advice of the military experts is always accepted without question by himself and his colleagues in the Cabinet?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Sir Fynwy
This advice was not even tendered to me; it was tendered to an international committee.
Mr Reginald Paget
, Northampton
Is not 18 months a convenient time to forget this bit of nonsense?
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 cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
