§ 11. Mr. Watkinsonasked the Minister of Supply what steps are being taken to utilise spare engineering capacity available in Italy or France for the production of armaments.
§ Mr. G. R. StraussThe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is examining the extent to which the production of military equipment can be increased in the N.A.T.O. countries, including France and Italy, and the full extent to which supplies in the armament field can be obtained from European countries depends on this review. In advance of the review, however, my Ministry has placed considerable orders in Western Europe. In addition, in the case of sub-contracts, I have impressed on representatives of the British engineering industry the desirability of obtaining the maximum supplies from overseas, particularly Western Europe.