§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is intended to issue any statement showing what ships of the Royal Navy have been disposed of in the past twelve months; what ships it is intended to dispose of; what other steps have been taken to reduce our naval strength, such as the disbanding of our Naval Air Squadrons and the Royal Fleet Reserve; and what it is considered the strength of the Fleet and its composition should be, in order to enable the Royal Navy to continue its traditional function of safeguarding the trade routes.]
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (THE EARL OF SELKIRK)My Lords, the noble Lord's Question raises certain broad issues of policy which will be easier to deal with in debate after the Explanatory Statement which accompanies the Navy Estimates has been published, which will be in about two weeks' time. From this the noble Earl will be able to gain a fuller picture of the points which he raises in his Question. When he has seen this Memorandum I shall be very glad to deal in further detail with any of these points.
§ EARL HOWEMy Lords, while thanking the noble Earl for his Answer, may I ask whether he will be able to differentiate in this Statement to which he has referred between planned reductions and indiscriminate hacking by Ministers or by the Treasury.
§ THE EARL OF SELKIRKI do not think there will be any need to do that, because there is no indiscriminate haggling going on at all.