§ 6. Mr. Jesselasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many officers and men are now serving in the Royal Navy.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy (Mr. A. E. P. Duffy)On 1st April 1976, 9,311 officers and 55,130 ratings were serving in the Royal Navy.
§ Mr. JesselMay I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him well in it? Since the Russians now have over 300 submaries, is he satisfied with the size of the British naval contribution to NATO?
§ Mr. DuffyI am grateful to the hon. Member. I remind him that the United Kingdom is a member of an alliance—NATO. I am satisfied that that Alliance is capable of deterring aggression by the Warsaw Pact. I also remind the House that within that Alliance the Royal Navy makes a vital contribution in the Eastern Atlantic and the Channel areas and that its contribution is left virtually undiminished by the defence review and the recent PESC exercise.
§ Mr. Robin F. CookI add my congratulations to my hon. Friend and look forward to many interesting exchanges at Question Time. Has he seen the report presented by the Pentagon to the Senate last week, which showed that the NATO countries had manufactured twice as many large combat ships as the Warsaw Pact countries over the last 15 years? Does he accept those figures?
§ Mr. DuffyI am familiar with the view that my hon. Friend takes of that report and I hope that he will accept my assurance that I had planned to raise it with him in tomorrow's debate and to explain how Mr. Rumsfeldt, for example, takes a totally different view from that of my hon.Friend.
§ Mr. LuceHow can the hon. Gentleman justify the reduction in the size of the British Navy at a time when the Soviet Navy is expanding dramatically?
§ Mr. DuffyI do not think that the hon. Gentleman was following me. I assured the House that the recent exercise and the previous defence review both left the Navy's vital contribution within NATO virtually undiminished.