27. Mr. PRESTONasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether it is specified that on the clothing and oilskins, etc., used for the Navy, the buttons attached should be British made and not buttons imported by manufacturers and sold as their own products; and, if not, whether he will consider the desirability of inserting a clause in all future tenders for clothing, etc., that all such buttons used should be of British manufacture?
§ Lieut.-Colonel HEADLAMThe contract specifications for buttons purchased by the Admiralty for making up Service clothing stipulate that they are to be made in this country. As regards clothing purchased from contractors in a finished state, there is no such stipulation at the present time, but the matter will be considered.
§ Mr. THURTLEIs it the intention of the hon. and gallant Member's Department to see that the needles and the thread with which these buttons are sewn on are also British products; and that the cotton from which the thread is made is also British grown?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat is what I call an ironic question.