§ 15. Mr. Dayasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will give particulars of any acts of sabotage, suspected or otherwise, that have occurred in any dockyards carrying out Admiralty work during the previous 12 months; and whether he can state the cost of making good the damage caused?
Lord StanleyFive cases of damage or attempted damage to His Majesty's ships in all dockyards carrying out Admiralty work have been reported since 1st January, 1936. Sabotage was suspected in three of these cases. I am glad to say that the cost of making good the damage was not great, but it will be obvious that this is no measure of the seriousness of the consequences which might have resulted.
§ Mr. DayCan the Noble Lord say whether there is any knowledge as to who committed these acts, and whether any prosecutions have taken place?
Mr. AlexanderDoes not the Parliamentary Secretary consider that, in view of the revelations yesterday as to the expenditure on the Secret Service, the results obtained up to date from the sums expended in preventing sabotage are practically negligible?
Lord StanleyLuckily, very little damage has occurred so far, but, if we had not been able to discover the damage in time, great loss might have been effected. I consider it very likely that it is owing to the knowledge that there is a very effective security service in the dockyards that there has been as little trouble as there has been.
Mr. AlexanderWould it not be better to improve the whole system of supervision of work that is being done, rather than encourage a system of spying?
Lord StanleyThere are some forms of under-hand work that can only be discouraged and found out by special methods.