Oral Answers to Questions — Industry, Trade and Regional Development – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 11 Mehefin 1964.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
12:00,
11 Mehefin 1964
asked the Prime Minister if he will now appoint an official historian to write the history of the Suez campaign and its consequences.
Mr Selwyn Lloyd
, Wirral
I have been asked to reply.
I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer my right hon. Friend gave to Questions on this subject on 14th May.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
May I congratulate the right hon. and learned Gentleman on sticking to his job when the Prime Minister is trying to hypnotise the Tory women? Is he aware that, while the Government refuse to appoint an official
historian of the Suez affair, this job has been undertaken by a professor of Chicago University and that he said about the right hon. and learned Gentleman that on 22nd October Ben Gurion, the Prime Minister of Israel, made a secret visit to France where at a conference held until 26th October he conferred
with top French Government leaders and Selwyn Lloyd".
Does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman think that he owes some explanation to the House?
Mr Selwyn Lloyd
, Wirral
A great many things have been said by a great many people, and a great many books have been written, but I do not propose to add anything.
Mr. H. Wilson:
Now that the right hon. and learned Gentleman has had the Whitsun Recess to reflect on his refusal to anwer previous Questions, if he will not add to what has been written in these books, will be subtract from it and stand up and deny the statement that has been made, in order to make it unnecessary to consider the appointment of an official historian?
Mr Selwyn Lloyd
, Wirral
For the reasons given by my right hon. Friend, and which I have given from time to time, I do not intend to add to what has been publicly stated.
Mr. Wilson:
The assurance given by the noble Lord the Earl of Avon at the end of 1956 was simply a plain statement that there had been no collusion. Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that at that time no one had suggested in the House, and there would have been a lot of interest if anyone had, that the right hon. and learned Gentleman himself had been over for these secret meetings in the planning of the Suez operation? Does he not owe it to himself and to the House to clear himself of these statements or admit that they are true?
Mr Selwyn Lloyd
, Wirral
It is a question of judgment. [HON. MEMBERS "Oh."] All sorts of suggestions were made from the beginning of a varying nature, but the matter was fully debated in the House and I do not think that it is right in the public interest that anything should be added to what has been already said.
Sir Harry Hylton-Foster
, Cities of London and Westminster
We ought to try to make some progress on Questions. We have taken up a lot of time on points of order.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
On a point of order. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise this matter again at the earliest opportunity.
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.
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.
