§ MR. ARTHUR LEE (Hampshire, Fareham)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if he can state approximately 673 what proportion of the total cost of a first-class battleship, of the "Dreadnought" or "King Edward" classes, is represented by wages paid to workmen employed in the building operations and in producing the necessary material.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) No accurate calculation is possible, but as I have already stated in reply to a Question asked by the hon. Member for King's Lynn on March 7th, there is reason to believe that the proportion of the total cost of a battleship which represents wages is well over 70 per cent.