– in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 7 Mai 1964.
Mr Willie Hamilton
, Fife West
12:00,
7 Mai 1964
asked the Prime Minister whether the public speech made by the Minister of Housing and Local Government in London on Wednesday, 29th April, to the Town and Country Planning Association on the Government's plan for South-East England represents the policy of Her Majesty's Government.
Mr Willie Hamilton
, Fife West
Does the Prime Minister recollect that the Minister said in that speech that it was estimated that 270,000 immigrants from Scotland and the North-East would come into the South-East between now and 1981? Is the Prime Minister aware that there is a good deal of concern, certainly in Scotland and, I believe, in the North-East, about this tacit admission by the Government that immigration to the South-East is inevitable from Scotland and the North-East and that the most the Government hope to do is to slow it down?
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
The figure given by my right hon. Friend was that of immigration into the South-East from all over Britain. What we are trying to do is to arrest the drift from Scotland and the North-East. I have here some figures of applications by industrialists to go to Scotland and they are very encouraging. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will help us try to get industry to Scotland and not write it down all the time.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
Of course, there will be a great increase of population in the next 35 years in Britain as a whole—about 14 million—and about a quarter of that, or 3 million, will be in the South-East.
Mr Douglas Jay
, Battersea North
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that what worries us is that the Government's plans now provide for an increase in the rate of immigration into the South-East over the next 20 years?
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
Our plans do not provide for that. They recognise what is likely to happen. We are trying to do our best, through our regional policies, to prevent an undue flow of population from the North-East and Scotland. If the right hon. Gentleman thinks that he should direct people where to go, that is a different matter.
Mr Gilbert Longden
, South West Hertfordshire
In view of the expected very large increase in population, will my right hon. Friend consider inaugurating, instead of family allowances, big bonuses for bachelors?
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.