§ 17. Sir B. FALLEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the engineering tools supplied in the workshops of His Majesty's Ship "Fisgard," such as squares, pliers, hand vices, etc., for artificer apprentices, are foreign made; and if he will take steps to provide British-made tools in future?
Mr. ALEXANDERThe contracts in question involve 49 items of tools, and tenders for their supply were invited from 27 British makers and factors. Particulars of the offers received were communicated to the "Fisgard" officers who selected those which they considered the best for their purposes, having due regard to the descriptions and samples of tools offered and their relative prices. All but four of the items so selected were offered as being of British manufacture and for these four either no suitable British substitutes were available, or the American tools were definitely preferred on grounds of quality. The total value of the orders placed last year for these four items was some £13.
§ Sir B. FALLEIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is a question of principle and not of amount?