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Ministerial Responsibility
In Westminster-style governments, individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention that a cabinet minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry or department. Individual ministerial responsibility is not the same as cabinet collective responsibility, which states members of the cabinet must approve publicly of its collective decisions or resign. This means that a Parliamentary motion for a vote of no confidence is not in order should the actions of an organ of government fail in the proper discharge of its responsibilities. Where there is ministerial responsibility, the accountable minister is expected to take the blame and ultimately resign, but the majority or coalition within parliament of which the minister is part, is not held to be answerable for that minister's failure. This means that if waste, corruption, or any other misbehaviour is found to have occurred within a ministry, the minister is responsible even if the minist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cave Creek Disaster
The Cave Creek disaster occurred on 28 April 1995 when a scenic viewing platform in Paparoa National Park, New Zealand, collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 14 people. The victims, 13 of whom were Tai Poutini Polytechnic students, fell onto rocks below. The tragedy resulted in wide criticism of the government and its policies towards funding and management of the conservation estate. Denis Marshall, New Zealand's Minister of Conservation, eventually resigned, after the Commission of Inquiry's report came out. It also resulted in major changes to procedures used by the New Zealand Department of Conservation after it was revealed that serious systemic failures had led to the building of the unstable platform. Eventual changes in New Zealand Law, following a change of government, allowed for government departments to be held criminally liable for inadequate building practices, in the same way as non-government organisations. Background Cave Creek / Kotihotiho is a small stream ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabinet Collective Responsibility
Cabinet collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is a constitutional convention in parliamentary systems that members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them. This support includes voting for the government in the legislature. Some Communist political parties apply a similar convention of democratic centralism to their central committee. If a member of the Cabinet wishes to openly object to a Cabinet decision then they are obliged to resign from their position in the Cabinet. Cabinet collective responsibility is related to the fact that if a vote of no confidence is passed in parliament, the government is responsible collectively, and thus the entire government resigns. The consequence will be that a new government will be formed or parliament will be dissolved and a general election will be called. Cabinet collective responsibility is not the same as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arms-to-Iraq
The Arms-to-Iraq affair concerned the uncovering of the government-endorsed sale of arms by British companies to Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein. The scandal contributed to the growing dissatisfaction with the Conservative government of John Major and the atmosphere of sleaze that contributed to the electoral landslide for Tony Blair's Labour Party at the 1997 general election. The whole affair also highlighted the weakness of the constitutional convention of individual ministerial accountability, leading to its codification as the Ministerial Code by the Blair Government. Following the first Gulf War of 1991 there was interest in the extent to which British companies had been supplying Saddam Hussein's administration with the materials to prosecute the war. Four directors of the British machine tools manufacturer Matrix Churchill were put on trial for supplying equipment and knowledge to Iraq, but in 1992 the trial collapsed, when it was revealed that the company ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Inquiry
The Scott Report (the ''Report of the Inquiry into the Export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods to Iraq and Related Prosecutions'') was a judicial inquiry commissioned in 1992 after reports surfaced of previously restricted arms sales to Iraq in the 1980s by British companies. The report was conducted by Sir Richard Scott, then a Lord Justice of Appeal. It was published in 1996. Much of the report was classified as secret. Background In the late 1980s, Matrix Churchill, a British (Coventry) aerospace quality machine tools manufacturer that had been bought by the Iraqi government, was exporting machines used in weapons manufacture to Iraq. According to the International Atomic Energy Authority, the products later found in Iraq were among the highest quality of their kind in the world. They were 'dual use' machines that could be used to manufacture weapons parts. Such exports are subject to government control, and Matrix Churchill had the appropriate government permissions, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson (born 21 October 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010. He is the president of international think tank Policy Network, honorary president of the Great Britain–China Centre, and chairman of strategic advisory firm Global Counsel. Mandelson is often referred to as a Blairite. From 1985 to 1990, Mandelson served as Labour's Director of Communications. He was one of the first to whom the term " spin doctor" was applied and gained the nickname "the Prince of Darkness" because of his "ruthlessness" and "media savvy". He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004 and held a number of Cabinet positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He was the European Commissioner for Trade between 2004 and 2008. Mandelson was one of several key people responsible for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Davies (British Politician)
Ronald Davies (born 6 August 1946) is a Welsh politician, former Secretary of State for Wales, former Member of Parliament and former member of the Welsh Assembly. He describes himself as a politician belonging to the "traditional left" who had "spent his life looking for a socialist progressive party". He was a member of the Labour Party (until 2004), and then of Forward Wales (2004-2009); he was subsequently an independent MP and eventually joined Plaid Cymru in 2010. He is credited with being the "architect of devolution" in Wales and led the campaign to create the National Assembly for Wales. He became the first Cabinet Minister to resign from Tony Blair's Cabinet, in 1998, following what became known as a "moment of madness" when he was mugged at knifepoint after agreeing to go for a meal with a man he had met at the well-known gay meeting place of Clapham Common. Early life Born in Machen in the Rhymney Valley in Monmouthshire, he was educated in Bassaleg Grammar School ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secretary Of State For Education
The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office holder works alongside the other Department for Education#Ministers, Education ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, and the work of the Secretary of State is also scrutinised by the Education Select Committee. The current education secretary is Gillian Keegan. Responsibilities Corresponding to what is generally known as an education minister in many other countries, the education secretary's remit is concerned primarily with England. This includes: * Early years * Children's social care * Teacher recruitment and retention * The National Curriculum for England, national curriculum * School improvement * Acad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estelle Morris
Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, (born 17 June 1952), is a British politician and life peer who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2001 to 2002. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Yardley from 1992 to 2005. Early life Morris was born in Manchester into a political family. Her uncle, Alf Morris, was Labour MP for Manchester Wythenshawe (1964–1997) and her father, Charles, was Labour MP for Manchester Openshaw (1963–1983) and a Post Office union official who married Pauline Dunn. She attended Rack House primary school in Wythenshawe and Whalley Range High School in Whalley Range where she failed her English and French A-levels. She is a graduate of the Coventry College of Education, where she gained a BEd degree in 1974. Morris remembered the long-serving Principal, Joan Dillon Browne (1912–2009), as "a pioneer in showing what women could achieve, long before it was fashionable to do so." M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Prior
James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior, (11 October 1927 – 12 December 2016) was a British Conservative Party politician. A Member of Parliament from 1959 to 1987, he represented the Suffolk constituency of Lowestoft until 1983 and then the renamed constituency of Waveney from 1983 to 1987, when he stood down from the House of Commons and was made a life peer. He served in two Conservative cabinets, and outside parliament was Chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce from 1996 to 2004. Under Edward Heath, Prior was Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1970 to 1972, then Leader of the House of Commons until Heath lost office in the wake of the February 1974 election. His party returned to power under Margaret Thatcher in 1979, and Prior was Secretary of State for Employment from 1979 to 1981, disagreeing with some of her views on trade unions and her monetarist economic policies generally. This made him a leader of the so-called "wet" faction in the Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secretary Of State For Northern Ireland
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a white-collar worker person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication, or organizational skills within the area of administration. There is a diverse array of work experiences attainable within the administrative support field, ranging between internship, entry-level, associate, junior, mid-senior, and senior level pay bands with positions in nearly every industry. However, this role should not be confused with the role of an executive secretary, cabinet secretary such as cabinet members who hold the title of "secretary," or company secretary, all which differ from an administrative assistant. The functions of a personal assistant may be entirely carried out to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMP Maze
Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. It was situated at the former Royal Air Force station of Long Kesh, on the outskirts of Lisburn. This was in the townland of Maze, about southwest of Belfast. The prison and its inmates were involved in such events as the 1981 hunger strike. The prison was closed in 2000 and demolition began on 30 October 2006, but on 18 April 2013 it was announced by the Northern Ireland Executive that the remaining buildings would be redeveloped into a peace centre. Background Following the introduction of internment in 1971, Operation Demetrius was implemented by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army with raids for 452 suspects on 9 August 1971. The RUC and army arrested 342 Irish nationalists, but key Provisional Irish Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
