§ 34. Mr. MANDERasked the Prime Minister whether he has now given consideration to the appeals made to him to appoint a special committee, in view of the Naval Conference of 1935, to consider the advisability of building battleships in excess of 10,000 tons; and whether a decision can now be announced?
§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Ramsay MacDonald)As stated in Command Paper 4189, exhaustive investigation has shown that the arbitrary figure of 10,000 tons as the limit of a capital ship would fail to command general acceptance. The 155 size of capital ship which the United Kingdom had proposed was stated in Command Paper 4122; up to the present it has proved impossible to obtain international agreement even for the figures mentioned in that Paper. In those circumstances, it is not considered advisable to appoint a special committee for the specific purpose suggested.
§ Mr. MANDERDoes not the Prime Minister think that it would allay a lot of misunderstanding in different parts of the country and in different parts of this House if an impartial public investigation were made into this difficult problem?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI really do not.