§ 14. Mr. Awberyasked the Minister of Transport if he is aware of the unemployment position in the shipbuilding industry; and why he will not adopt the principle of scrap and build.
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettI cannot yet add to the answer I gave to a similar Question from my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. P. Williams) last Wednesday. But I hope that it will be possible to make an announcement on the Government's attitude before the House rises for the Whitsun Recess.
§ Mr. AwberyIs the Minister aware that a large number of vessels now afloat are near to being unseaworthy and are fit only for the scrap heap? Would it not be wiser to scrap these vessels now and 1310 to give work to our men in the shipyards by building other ships in their place?
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettI can only repeat what I said last week, and that is that the scrap and build scheme is not a simple, straightforward matter at all. There are serious disadvantages to it, and the position today is very different from what it was when we had a similar scheme between the wars.
§ Mr. P. WilliamsWhile welcoming the intention of my hon. and gallant Friend and that of the Government to make public their decision before Whitsun—that is what I understand from the Answer—may I ask my hon. and gallant Friend if he can assure the House and the shipping and shipbuilding industries that it is not the intention of the Government to let the British shipping and shipbuilding industries wither away? Will he take account, while considering the interests of the shipbuilding industry, of the ship-owning industry as well?
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettWe certainly appreciate the great importance to this country of the shipping and shipbuilding industries, and I think that perhaps we had better await the announcement when it comes.