§ Q6. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister if he will take steps to ensure that the Secretary of State for Defence is a member of the House of Commons, in view of the expenditure for which his Department is responsible.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence is well able to answer in this House on all defence matters, including defence expenditure.
§ Mr. HamiltonDoes not the Prime Minister think that it is an insult to the elected Members of the House of Commons that the head of the biggest spending Department in Government—[An HON. MEMBER: "No."] It is the biggest at present, I think, spending £2,500 million. It is one of the biggest, in any case—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. It is the Prime Minister who is being asked the question.
§ Mr. HamiltonDoes not the right hon. Gentleman think it unfair that the Secretary of State should be in the other place, where he cannot be challenged by the elected representatives of the people? It is not good enough for the right hon. Gentleman to say that the Secretary of State has an underling in this House prepared to answer here.
§ The Prime MinisterI do not accept the hon. Gentleman's thesis. Until the Ministry of Defence was unified, it was customary for one of the Service Ministers to be in the other place, and he headed a major spending Department. As we have a bicameral system, I see no objection to a senior Minister being in the other place, and, of course, the 249 House of Commons retains complete control over expenditure.
§ Rear-Admiral Morgan-GilesDoes my right hon. Friend realise that those of us who take a rather more constructive view of defence expenditure than does the hon. Member for Fife, West (Mr. William Hamilton) are thoroughly happy with the present arrangement?
§ The Prime MinisterI am glad that my hon. and gallant Friend is thoroughly happy, even if he does give the impression at the moment of receding over the horizon.