§ 13. Mr. John Wellsasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give further details of the proposed time scale for the rundown of Chatham dockyard.
§ Mr. BlakerThe phasing of the rundown is still to be fully assessed, but the bulk of the rundown in staff is likely to occur in the period April 1982 to March 1984.
§ Mr. WellsIs my hon. Friend aware that, so long as the dockyard is still in his hands and not cast off on the PSA or some other Government agency, it is still important that he and his Department provide opportunities for employment within other engineering and similar concerns for those who are being laid off by his Department? Does he agree that, as the present employer, he has a responsibility to assist fresh employers to come in, albeit on Crown property?
§ Mr. BlakerI accept the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence to do everything we can to ease the anxieties and problems of the people who work in the dockyard and their families. I pay tribute to my hon. Friends from that area who have taken such a close interest in this problem. I am happy to confirm that we hope to complete the work in hand at Chatham.
§ Mr. George RobertsonIs it true that HMS "Dreadnought", which was scheduled for a refit at Devonport, has now been told to go to Chatham for refitting and that the management and unions at Chatham dockyard have told the Ministry of Defence to get lost? If it is true, is not that a condemnation of the Government's strategy about the future of the nuclear refitting programme and a vindication of what the Chief of Fleet Support told the Select Committee last week—that the Government are taking an enormous risk with one of our principal defence areas?
§ Mr. BlakerI think that if an official spokesman for the Opposition quotes someone who has been speaking to a Select Committee, he should get the quotation right. If the hon. Gentleman examines the record, he will see that he has misrepresented what was said.
As for "Dreadnought", we are not ready yet to make an announcement about the future work load in Chatham, but we hope to do so soon.
§ Mr. MoateDoes my hon. Friend agree that the Chief of Fleet Support said that the proposed closures of the dockyards were a strategy not without risk? Does he also agree that one of the risks is that in the future, if Chatham is allowed to close, the dockyards will not have the capacity to refit and refuel the SSN fleet?
§ Mr. BlakerI think that my hon. Friend, in contrast to the hon. Member for Hamilton (Mr. Robertson), has correctly quoted what was said. In defence policy in particular, any programme one adopts must have some element of risk. We build all our nuclear missile submarines at Barrow. That must involve some sort of risk, but one must consider the alternatives, especially in terms of cost.
§ Mr. HooleyWhile on the subject of dockyards, can the Minister say when he proposes to shut down the dockyard at Gibraltar?
§ Mr. BlakerNo. We are in consultation with the Government of Gibraltar about the future of that dockyard.