§ 25. Mr. Stokesasked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the fact that. Ipswich has now been scheduled as a suitable place into which to evacuate children from London in case of emergency, he will reconsider the decision of his Department taken in 1936 with regard to the spending of some £30,000 for machine-tools required by a firm in that town for the production of shell?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaIn view of the fact stated in the first part of the question it would be clearly imprudent to comply with the suggestion contained in the second part of the question.
§ Mr. StokesIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that the Minister of Health has declared a part of Ipswich not to be a vulnerable area, and that the factory in question is on the outskirts of the town, and that at the price at which orders for shells were being placed at the time the saving effected during the past few years would have more than compensated for the cost of the plant? Will not the right hon. Gentleman reconsider the position?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaIf it is true that the Minister of Health is evacuating children to Ipswich it would surely be imprudent for us to establish a shell factory there.