§ 11. Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total expenditure on the Royal Navy in 1979–80; and what is the projected outturn for 1981–82.
§ Mr. BlakerAccounting is now by defence-wide Votes rather than by Service, but the Estimates attribution of expenditure on the Royal Navy, including those services provided by the Royal Navy for the Army and Royal Air Force, was £2,354 million in 1979–80 and £3,622 million for 1981–82.
§ Mr. WainwrightCan the hon. Gentleman reassure the House that that level of expenditure will begin to provide a more adequate defence against mines than is currently provided by just one hovercraft, one support ship, three Hunt class minesweepers and 29 TON class vessels with an average age of more than 25 years?
§ Mr. BlakerIf the hon. Gentleman looks at the White Paper published in the summer and the subsequent debates he will be reassured about our intention to improve our mine hunting and mine sweeping capability.
§ Mr. ChurchillBearing in mind the massive deployment of Soviet submarine forces in the North Atlantic and the relentless build-up of Russia's Backfire nuclear strike bombers in a maritime role, how do the Government justify on military grounds their decision prematurely to retire from service 34 ships of the Royal Navy?
§ Mr. BlakerTime does not allow me to go over the debates that we had on that subject in the summer, but my hon. Friend will recall that we stated our intention to keep 50 destroyers and frigates in service in the years up to 1986.