§ 15. Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the total of cancellation payments for aircraft ordered for the Royal Air Force in the last three years; how many aircraft these payments represented; and what number of new front-line aircraft have been delivered in the same period.
§ Mr. Roy MasonSince October, 1964, payments made in respect of aircraft ordered for the R.A.F. and subsequently cancelled were £41 million. Eighty aircraft were on order at the time of cancellation. In the same period 208 new front-line aircraft were delivered to the R.A.F.
§ Mr. DigbyAre these rather disquieting figures completely up to date, or are there further cancellation costs to come?
§ Mr. MasonThe full payments for the Fl 1 1are not yet finally agreed. Therefore the figure will be higher.
§ Sir Ian Orr-EwingIs it not a fact that, in view of these cancellations and also the large costs of building barracks and other facilities at home for troops returning from overseas, defence costs are rising and our effective defence is going down? In these circumstances, 1330 would it not be better for the Secretary of State to resign, since he is wedded to cost-effectiveness and not greater costs with less effectiveness?
§ Mr. MasonIt is not necessary for me to keep reminding the House, but the hon. Gentleman should know, that when we cancelled the 1965 batch of aircraft we saved the country £1,200 million over ten years.
§ Mr. RamsdenThe right lion. Gentleman mentioned £41 million. Apart from the F.111, how much is still to come?
§ Mr. MasonIt covers only 80 aircraft, which are the TSR.2s and the F.111s. To be fair to the House, I have said that the F.111 total payments have not yet been agreed on, so they will be higher.