§ 9. Mr. Benceasked the First Lord of the Admiralty why the Royal Yacht "Britannia" is undergoing a refit; and what the total cost of refits has been to date.
§ Mr. J. P. L. ThomasThe Royal Yacht "Britannia" is now in hand for her normal annual refit. The total cost of previous refits was £109,198.
§ Mr. BenceCan the right hon. Gentleman give the House an assurance that the periodical necessity for the refitting and overhaul of this ship is not due to quality of the ship when launched and when she left the Clyde, but is mainly due to the workers in Portsmouth messing about with this ship, and will not the right hon. Gentleman send her back to the Clyde?
§ Mr. ThomasIt is not a question of the workers messing about with the ship at Portsmouth. These are the usual teething troubles of a new ship.
§ Mr. Anthony GreenwoodCan the right hon. Gentleman state the main items comprising the £109,000?
§ Mr. ThomasI cannot give details without notice.
Air Commodore HarveyIs it not the fact that the construction of this ship was authorised by the Labour Government and, instead of all this talk, would it not be a good thing to leave it alone, because we are all very proud of it?
§ Mr. ThomasIt is perfectly true that it was authorised by the Labour Government. I think the "Britannia" is an extremely good ship, and I should like to congratulate the constituents of the hon. Member for Dunbartonshire, East (Mr. Bence) on the work they put into it.