HC Deb 30 July 1974 vol 878 cc463-5
11. Miss Fookes

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now announce his plans for the future of the Royal Naval Dockyards.

Mr. Judd

I have nothing to add to what I told the House on 21st May 1974—[Vol. 874, cc. 116–7.]. The naval dockyards will continue to fulfil their rôle of supporting the Fleet.

Miss Fookes

Does the hon. Gentleman accept, as a Member representing a dockyard constituency, that he is telling us nothing and that we have now waited five months but still know nothing about the future of the dockyards?

Mr. Judd

I would have thought that the hon. Lady, with her intimate knowledge of the dockyards and their problems, together with her hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Mr. Viggers), would recognise that at the moment the dockyards have a full load of naval work which stretches into the future. We on this side of the House have every confidence in the ability of the labour force in the dockyards to continue serving the interests of the Navy effectively into the future and we believe that they will take on any other national priority which may be appropriate from time to time.

Mr. Hooley

Has my hon. Friend made progress in his calculations of how far the naval dockyards might in future assist in the construction of the necessary equipment to exploit North Sea oil, of which the Navy will be the defender.

Mr. Judd

I thank my hon. Friend for his continuing constructive interest in this matter. I can assure him that specific interdepartmental machinery is now established to deal with this problem.

Mr. Buck

Will the hon. Gentleman confirm whether there are to be defence cuts within the region of £1,000 million, or even hundreds of millions of pounds? Will he say whether in the light of such cuts closure of a dockyard would be likely? Will he turn his mind to this matter and indicate whether what I say is the case and say on which dockyard he is focusing?

Mr. Judd

I know of no plans to cut defence by £1,000 million. As we have repeatedly told the House, we do not share the doubts and the misgivings of some Opposition Members about the capabilities of the labour force in our dockyards. We believe that the skilled men in the dockyards, supported by unskilled labourers with an established reputation, will serve the national economy on a whole range of important priorities in the future should the need arise.