§ MR. KING (Cheshire, Knutsford)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if his attention has been called to the speech of the French Minister of the Marine in the Chamber, Paris, on 7th March, that, in consequence of the shipbuilding programmes of the Governments of Germany and Great Britain, the French programme would be increased by the addition of six new battleships of 18,000 tons and with a speed of 18 knots; and whether he proposes to take steps, either at the forthcoming Hague Conference or directly, to put a stop to this burdensome competition between the shipbuilding programmes of the Great Powers concerned.
§ † The following is the second Question referred to by the Prime Minister:
§ MR. BAKER (Finsbury, E.)To ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, considering the fact that Germany, following the example of Great Britain, and now France, following the examples of both Great Britain and Germany, have decided to extend their naval armaments, he will take an early opportunity of approaching these and other Foreign Powers, with a view to effecting a mutual and simultaneous reduction.
§ SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANI have not been able to find in the report of the speech referred to which appeared in the French Journal Officiel the statement quoted by the hon. Member. As regards the attitude of His Majesty's Government on the question of the limitation of naval armaments, I can only refer the hon. Member to the Answer I have just given to the Question put by the hon. Member for the Tottenham Division of Middlesex.