§ 27. Mrs. Castleasked the First Lord of the Admiralty why it has been decided to cancel the order for a new 10,000 ton hospital ship, whose keel has already been laid; and what is the estimated financial saving.
§ Mr. J. P. L. ThomasBecause of the need at the present time to devote the limited resources available to improving the fighting efficiency of the Royal Navy.
With regard to the latter part of the Question, it is not the practice to reveal the prices of individual contracts; in any event, I hope that it will be possible later to proceed with the building of a hospital ship so that the matter is one of deferring expenditure rather than an absolute saving.