§ MR. WOOTTON ISAACSONI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that, owing to a clause inserted in recent specifications for line-of-battleships, sent to the shipbuilders in the East End of London to tender, that the said firms have found it impossible to tender; and, whether he will adopt means to expunge that clause from all future specifications, so as to place the shipbuilding firms of the East End of London in the position they hitherto enjoyed, by which they will be able to tender for future contracts?
MR. G. J. GOSCHENI have had the question of the forms of tender for battleships under my most anxious consideration for the last few weeks. That is all I am prepared to say at the present moment, but the hon. Member may rest assured that I am giving the question my personal and earnest attention.