§ 21. Commander Courtneyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will now publish the result of the investigation recently put in hand concerning the application of Polaris to Her Majesty's submarines; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingI have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice (Mr. Wall) on 6th December.
§ Commander CourtneyIs my hon. Friend aware that that reply and his previous reply will give no satisfaction to those of us who are interested in this important matter? Does he appreciate that the Soviet Navy, as well as the United States Navy, has more than one type of missile-firing submarine at sea already? Does he not think it disgraceful that in this matter the Royal Navy has made no progress that is evident to the House?
§ Mr. Orr-EwingIt is not true that we have made no progress. We are building two nuclear submarines and we are also studying carefully whether it would be possible at some time in the future, if Government policy so desires, to carry Polaris missiles in nuclear submarines.