16. Mr. L'ESTRANGE MALONEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any additional claims have been received for the construction of His Majesty's Ship "Nelson"; what is the amount of these claims; whether the Admiralty has already paid, or intends to pay, any sum in addition to the contract price; and how the cost of His Majesty's Ship "Nelson" compares with the cost of His Majesty's Ship "Rodney"?
§ Lieut.-Colonel HEADLAMThe hon. and gallant Member is presumably referring to the statement recently made by the chairman of the contracting company. As far as that claim is concerned, the reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I do not think it would he in the public interest, to, reply to the remainder of the question.
§ Commander BELLAIRSWould it not be possible for some of those losses to be recovered from the authors of the general strike?
§ Mr. MACLEANBefore anything is done by the Government regarding the claims referred to by the chairman of this company, when building this ship, will the hon. and gallant Gentleman take the House of Commons into his confidence, and have the matter discussed here, because it would be unfair to other firms who estimated for this job if they were cut out by a firm who underestimated, and whose loss was then made good by the Government?