§ MR. RENDALL (Gloucestershire, Thornbury)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the redistribution of His Majesty's ships on the North American and West Indian Station took place under the late Government; and whether any alteration in the number and disposition of His Majesty's ships in the neighbourhood of the West Indies has been made since the present Government came into power.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. EDMUND ROBERTSON, Dundee)The Answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, no alteration in the number and disposition of His Majesty's ships in the neighbourhood of the West Indies has been made since the present Government came into power.
§ MR. RENDALLsuggested some steps should betaken to apprise Conservative candidates of these facts.
§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)asked the right hon. Gentleman whether his attention had been drawn to the speech of the Under-Secretary for the Colonies at Leeds, and whether there had been any negotiations between the Admiralty, the Foreign Office, and the Colonial Office on the subject.
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONsaid his attention had not been drawn to the speech referred to, and so far as he knew 299 there had been no negotiations of the kind referred to.
§ MR. BELLAIRSThe speech appeared in The Times of 6th February.