§ 48. Miss Burtonasked the Prime Minister what further action is being taken to co-ordinate the work of Departments in adjusting the cuts in the defence programme to meet the general economic requirements of the country and in particular to ensure that continued use is made of technological skill and equipment in research and development both as regards Coventry and elsewhere.
§ The Prime MinisterNo further action is called for generally, as there is already adequate co-ordination among the Departments concerned.
I am aware of the hon. Lady's concern, which I think is mainly over the aircraft 32 industry, but I hope that over the country generally an expanding demand for civil aircraft will replace, at least partially, the reduced requirements of the military types.
§ Miss BurtonIs the Prime Minister aware that that does not get us very much further, and may I ask, particularly in so far as Coventry is concerned, whether we can assume from his Answer that there will be contracts for civil aircraft to take the place of the defence cuts in military aircraft?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. As the hon. Lady knows, the Ministers concerned do all possible to deal with any difficulties which arise out of the cancellation of military orders or as the result of any change of policy. It is, of course, one of the difficulties that, much as we all want to reduce the pressure of armaments upon the economy, that very fact throws out certain difficulties in certain areas. We must trust to the expanding demand of the economy to replace the cancellation of these military orders.