Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – in the House of Commons am 10:30 am ar 21 Mai 2009.
Graham Stuart
Ceidwadwyr, Beverley and Holderness
10:30,
21 Mai 2009
Holderness in my Constituency has historically been the home of pig farming in England but, like most of the country, it has seen a collapse in production over the past 12 years. Pig farmers in my constituency will welcome what the Minister has just said about labelling, but they are frustrated that this has taken so long. We have a taskforce now, but it has been clear for a long time that meat from abroad that does not meet our welfare standards can none the less, after having a bit of work done to it, be sold as British meat. We must ensure that we reduce the regulations for our farmers so that their high-welfare meat can be properly labelled and thus attract the higher price that it deserves.
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.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
