Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Overseas Information Services – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 30 Gorffennaf 1964.
Mrs Barbara Castle
, Blackburn
12:00,
30 Gorffennaf 1964
Is the Prime Minister aware that the other Commonwealth Prime Ministers signed the conference communiqué on Southern Rhodesia only because they believed that the Prime Minister would call a constitutional conference? Is he further aware
that two days after the conference President Nyerere told the Cairo conference on African unity:
We left London confident that action would be taken "?
If the right hon. Gentleman does not take action and just waits indefinitely for Mr. Ian Smith to insult him, far from his chairmanship of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference having proved a success, it will have marked one of the most disastrous moments in the history of the Commonwealth.
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.