§ MR. BELLAIRSTo ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the expenditure already incurred by the Admiralty on the salvage of the "Gladiator," and on the purchase of two ready-built destroyers announced 1575 last July, involves a sum of over £200,000 sterling which has not yet been provided by Parliament; and whether he will introduce a Supplementary Estimate instead of resorting to the course followed last year when the unexpected expenditure of £200,000 on refrigerating machinery was met by cutting down necessary work elsewhere.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) I am not aware of the truth of the allegation made in the first part of the hon. Member's Question. It has indeed no relation to the facts. I cannot agree that the hon. Member correctly represents what occurred as to the cooling machinery, nor that a Supplementary Estimate and the cutting down of necessary work elsewhere exhaust all the alternatives.