§ 27 and 28. Dame Irene Wardasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty (1) if he will give an assurance that in order to spread the knowledge of nuclear-propelled submarines the first all-British nuclear submarine foreshadowed in the Defence White Paper will be built on the Tyne;
(2) what naval orders indicated in the Defence White Paper will be built on the Tyne.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingThe Report on Defence announces only the order of the second nuclear-propelled submarine referred to by my hon. Friend. I cannot give her an assurance that this will be built on the Tyne. The building of modern submarines, even conventionally powered, requires highly specialised techniques and equipment.
I can, however, give my hon. Friend an assurance that the Tyne will continue to be considered for warship orders, and the third guided missile destroyer will be laid down at Wallsend-on-Tyne the day after tomorrow.
§ Dame Irene WardI thank my hon. Friend for that piece of good news, but could he give an assurance that in this whole range of nuclear development in Service Departments, the knowledge will be spread as widely as possible—not only in Barrow-in-Furness and on the Tyne, but to all these technical colleges—so that all the knowledge necessary for the grasping of this new instrument, so to speak, will be made available to the whole country, and not concentrated only in one area?
§ Mr. Orr-EwingI will certainly bear in mind what my hon. Friend says. I thought that by my first Answer I might 360 have had the unique distinction of being the first Minister ever to have satisfied my hon. Friend in this House of Commons.