§ MR. J. F. HOPE (Sheffield, Brightside)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether it is a rule of the Admiralty that all armour plating and shaftings supplied under direct contracts shall be manufactured from British-made steel billets, and all brass castings from British-made ingot copper and ingot tin.
(Answered by Mr. Pretyman.) No such stipulation is made in armour contracts; but, as a matter of fact, all the firms with whom contracts are made are British firms who make their own billets. In contracts for forged steel shafting for ships' machinery purposes, it is the practice to stipulate that the steel shall be of British manufacture. The reply to the second part of the Question is in the negative.