Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 9 Ebrill 1986.
Mr Merlyn Rees
, Leeds South and Morley
12:00,
9 Ebrill 1986
Can the Minister of State help, perhaps by getting a parliamentary delegation to go and see the conditions in which about 4,500 Jews are living in Syria? Given the nature of the middle east, the conditions cannot be good, but the more information we have the better, because we must do something to get these people out of 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.
