Battle of the Atlantic (Hansard, 20 April 1993)

§ 6. Mr. Loyden
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how his Department has been involved in commemorating the battle of the Atlantic and the western approaches.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
My Department is responsible for the organisation of the military aspects of the commemoration. It is also working closely with the Chamber of Shipping, the Merseyside local authorities and other interested organisations to ensure that all those who took part in the battle, including members of the Merchant Navy, are properly commemorated in the events which are to take place in the Merseyside area during the last week of May.

§ Mr. Loyden
Does the Minister recognise that the country and, therefore the Government owe a great debt to the merchant seafarers who during the war carried our troops and military hardware to every theatre of war, at a cost of 30,189 lives and 11.5 million tonnes of British shipping? I welcome recognition, even at this late stage, of the role played by merchant seamen during the war, but does not the Minister agree that the best way of repaying the men and women who sail our ships would be to revive our Merchant Navy and get our shipyards moving? That Government activity would be welcomed both by the Merchant Navy and by our shipyard workers.

§ Mr. Hamilton
As the hon. Gentleman knows, the reasons for the decline in the Merchant Navy are complex, involving taxation and the high cost to shipowners of employing British labour. We are certainly ensuring that the commemoration will include members of the Merchant Navy and that their organisations will be represented. When the commemoration takes place, it will be a great fillip for Merseyside; I gather that the local authorities are catering for about 2 million visitors who are expected to attend.

§ Mr. Hunter
Bearing in mind the small but significant role played by South Africans in the battle of the Atlantic and the western approaches, would it not be appropriate if representatives of South Africa took part in the commemoration?

§ Mr. Hamilton
Yes indeed. My hon. Friend describes that role as small but significant; actually, about 10,000 South Africans served under the white ensign both in royal naval ships and in South African ships. Many more were 172 involved in the Merchant Navy. We will ensure that an invitation goes to the South Africans, so that a South African ship may take part in the general commemoration. That invitation will go out this afternoon.

§ Dr. David Clark
We note, and indeed join in, the Minister's tribute to Merchant Navy and Royal Navy personnel in days past, but why does he treat the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy of today so shamefully? Does he recall, just before Easter, sneaking out a parliamentary answer revealing that 2,300 Royal Navy personnel were to be made redundant? Will he explain to the House why, later the same evening, his Ministry revealed that the figure was really 5,000 rather than 2,300? Will he apologise to the House for withholding that information?

§ Mr. Hamilton
No, but I will put the record straight. There is never an ideal moment to announce another phase of redundancies, but the Royal Navy considered it important that the announcement be made before the Easter recess, so that the people concerned would know what was happening. The figure of 5,000 merely denoted forward plans for Royal Navy manpower levels; it was a purely theoretical figure based on estimates and has as much to do with contractorisation and market testing, which, as the hon. Gentleman must realise, involves replacing people in uniform with civilians, and thus does not affect the front line in any way. I am not sure that it is not a mistake to judge the efficiency of the Royal Air Force or the Royal Navy by their manpower. We should judge them on the equipments they have. The number of ships and aircraft is more significant than the number of men.