HC Deb 06 March 1961 vol 636 cc11-2
15. Mr. William Warbey

asked the Minister of Aviation if he will now state the total cost of the Blue Streak project from its inception to the latest available date; and what estimate he has made of the further terminal costs which will be involved if the project is now completely cancelled.

11. Mr. Rankin

asked the Minister of Aviation what is the current rate of expenditure on the Blue Streak project.

Mr. Thorneycroft

The total cost of the Blue Streak military project up to the date of cancellation and including an allowance for charges arising out of the cancellation of that project which have not been finally negotiated with the contractors amounted to some £84 million. The cost of work to keep a peaceful launcher project open as a possibility has been £2½ million up till the end of February, 1961. If the project were completely cancelled terminal costs would require negotiation and it would not help if I gave an estimate of them.

Mr. Warbey

Will the right hon. Gentleman look again at the figures for current maintenance costs, which he gave last week as £300,000 a month? Does that estimate include the cost of Spadeadam and Woomera? Does it include the research and development costs of the contractors? Is not the real figure nearer £2 million a month?

Mr. Thorneycroft

No. The figure obviously does not include the whole cost of Woomera, because Woomera is going on perfectly well without Blue Streak. Woomera is a very much bigger undertaking. All our main rockets and guided missiles are tested there. I said that the figure was "about £300,000". It is between £300,000 and £350,000.

Mr. K. Lewis

Does not my right hon. Friend agree that, in view of the present cost of old and new masters, this expense is quite reasonable?

Mr. Chetwynd

Will the Minister make clear whether the £300,000 does include Spadeadam?

Mr. Thorneycroft indicated assent.

Mr. Chetwynd

It does. Has the Minister seen the Guardian today? Will he read the feature article in it to see whether it is worth while going ahead with the project in these days?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I appreciate that there are plenty of faint hearts in matters of this kind. However, there is here a real possibility of something which could be of immense value to Europe. It would be foolish to cast that opportunity aside without exploring every possibility of going forward with it.