§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether, in view of the fact that the Rosyth dockyard project owed its inception to a Departmental Committee presided over by Mr. Pretyman, of which the terms of reference dealt exclusively with the accommodation of the dockyards in 1900 and the prospective demands on them, and that the forecasts of that Committee concerning impending congestion of shipping have been falsified so that there has been a net reduction of 6,776 men in ten months in the existing dockyards, the Admiralty will postpone all action in reference to Rosyth until the financial condition of the country is in a more satisfactory condition.
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONI have nothing to add to the Statement I have already made in the course of the debate on the 1st March.†
§ MR. ARTHUR LEE (Hampshire, Fareham)I suppose the right hon. Gentleman is referring to the official Memorandum which he read to the House, in which he said he had no intention of abandoning or departing from the scheme?†
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONThose are the words I used, and I adhere to them.