§ Captain Kerbyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, in view of the fact that, apart from Lieutenant John Gordon, R.M., M. (E) 1 Ridgley, C.D., and A/B Hobbs, T., constituents of the hon. Member for Arundel and Shoreham, who wish to leave Her Majesty's Service forthwith, there are many hundreds of other people who, for one reason or another, would like to be released from the Service, if he will make a statement on the reasons for the widespread unpopularity of service in the Royal Navy today.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingMy noble Friend and I entirely reject the assertion in the last part of this Question. In any profession there will always be some who, for many reasons, may want to shorten their contract of service and make a change. But the popularity of the Naval Service is borne out not only by the general satisfactory state of recruitment, but by the very high percentage of men who apply to re-engage; re-engagement after 12 years' service is now at the rate of 65 per cent., the highest it has been for 25 years.