§ 49. Mr. CHARLES ROBERTSasked the Prime Minister whether the Ministerial changes announced last week involve the addition of a new Minister to the total number of Ministers in the Government; and what is now the total number of Ministers composing the Government?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, and to the second part 91, which includes appointments in the Royal Household which are always made when a Government is formed.
§ Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that out of those ninety-one Gentlemen no fewer than sixty-seven are Members of the House of Commons—10 per cent. There has been nothing like it for a long time.
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI do not know the exact number. Perhaps the hon. Member is not aware that even before the War the number of members of the Government appointed in the same way was upwards of sixty. As regards the last part of the question, I have a better opinion of the House of Commons and their competence than the hon. Member.
§ Mr. MacNEILLIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the habit of increasing Ministers has grown despite the War in an almost extreme proportion to the necessity, and is he aware that in Lord Salisbury's last Ministry there were only forty-four members, including the large contingent of the Cecil and Ceciloid family?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWBefore the War there was a tendency to increase, and pressure has nearly always come from the House of Commons.
§ Mr. PRINGLECan the right hon. Gentleman say how many members, in addition to the sixty-seven members of the Government, are drawing subsistence allowance from the Government?
§ Mr. FLAVINWill the Government consider the advisability of increasing the present number of the Ministry?