Mr. PIKE PEASE (on behalf of Mr. Staveley-Hill)asked what was the estimate of the expenditure likely to be incurred by the contractors in the course of the next eight months in respect of the guns and mountings for the four new battleships to be laid down on 1st April; and what was the amount of expenditure already incurred by the contractors in preliminary preparations pursuant to the instructions given by the Government in the early part of this year?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe expenditure likely to be incurred this financial year on the guns and gun machinery for these four additional battleships cannot at present be estimated, as it will entirely depend on the arrangements the firms make to advance the manufacture of these particular guns and gun machinery. No information of the expenditure already incurred by the contractors referred to in the latter part of the question has been communicated by the firms.