Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 9 Ebrill 1986.
Mr Timothy Renton
, Mid Sussex
12:00,
9 Ebrill 1986
The local Jewish community has made it clear in the past that it does not wish its conditions to form part of Western ministerial exchanges with the Syrian Government. We have nevertheless left the Syrian Foreign Minister in no doubt of the strong feelings in this country on the question of human rights in Syria.
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.
