Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 9 Ebrill 2001.
Jack Straw
The Secretary of State for the Home Department
12:00,
9 Ebrill 2001
In the unlikely, although possible, event that we were to make way for a team from the Opposition Benches, we would be making way for a Conservative party whose record is indelible: crime doubled under the Conservatives, while the number of people convicted of crime fell by a third. As for the legislation, late last year, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers described the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 as:
The finest piece of legislation in terms of crime-fighting we have had in long time.
A former Conservative Home Office Minister said:
I congratulate the Government genuinely and sincerely on the working of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and on the spirit of collaboration with local government that they have inspired by that." —[Official Report 23 June 2000; Vol. 352, c. 599.]
The other difference between us and the Conservatives, should they ever return to power, is that they would tear up the antisocial behaviour orders. Yes there have not been sufficient of them, but 200 communities are now living in safety as a result of the ASBOs and those communities would otherwise face control by the criminals and drug dealers that were there before.
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.
The Conservatives are a centre-right political party in the UK, founded in the 1830s. They are also known as the Tory party.
With a lower-case ‘c’, ‘conservative’ is an adjective which implies a dislike of change, and a preference for traditional values.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
