§ Q2. Mr. Bellengerasked the Prime Minister what proposals he has for amending the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957 to take account of the proposed appointment of new Defence Ministers under the Defence (Transfer of Functions) Bill.
§ The Prime MinisterNo substantive amendment of the Act of 1957 is needed to take account of these appointments. But there are entries in the Second Schedule to that Act which will be rendered obsolete by the new arrangements, These, in common with similar references in other Acts, can be removed in due course by Order in Council under the Defence (Transfer of Functions) Bill.
§ Mr. BellengerAre we to understand that the promise given in Standing Committee by the Minister of Defence to my right hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Mr. Shinwell), that three Ministers of Defence for the individual Services would be appointed, will be included in the Order in Council?
§ The Prime MinisterI should not like to say what will be included in the Order in Council. I gather that, whatever is put into an Order in Council or whatever is in present legislation, technically these Ministers will be Ministers of State, but they can be given any title and be paid salaries appropriate to their status.
§ Mr. ShinwellWhen the Prime Minister authorised his right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence to give me the assurance and the Standing Committee the assurance that three Deputy Ministers of Defence would be appointed under the Bill, he surely must have known what the implications were? If the right hon. Gentleman discovers that there was no such authority given at the time, will he take steps to amend the Bill or to withdraw it and produce a new one.
§ The Prime MinisterI do not follow the right hon. Gentleman. They will be deputies, and they will have any status we give them. We can give them any name we like and we can pay them any salary we like.
§ Mr. ShinwellIs the Prime Minister seriously saying that the Government can give them any name they like? Is he aware that his right hon. Friend gave an assurance to the Standing Committee, which was accepted unanimously and was to be incorporated either in an Order in Council or in the Bill itself, that there would be appointed in addition to a Secretary of State for Defence three Deputy Ministers of Defence? That was a categorical assurance.
§ The Prime MinisterThat is all right; they will be. Under the present legislation these are technically Ministers of State, but as I have said in my Answer, this special status will drop when the Order in Council is issued.