§ MR. MITCHELL-THOMSON. (Lanarkshire, N.W.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is yet in a position to state the intentions of His Majesty's Government with regard to the laying down of special vessels for the purpose of showing the flag in outlying portions of the Empire and the performance of detached police duties.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. Edmund Robertson, Dundee)The shipbuilding programme for next year is in course of being considered, and I will take care that the point referred to by the hon. Gentleman shall not be lost sight of.
§ MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)Is it intended that any warship bigger than a gunboat shall patrol, or, at any rate, occasionally visit, the Persian Gulf?
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONI can make no definite statement.