HC Deb 12 March 1924 vol 170 cc2370-1W
Sir A. SINCLAIR

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty when the five cruisers and two destroyers, for the construction of which the Government proposes to ask Parliamentary sanction, would have been laid down if the pro- gramme of construction had been dictated by the requirements of national defence alone?

Mr. AMMON

If financial circumstances had permitted, the Admiralty would have asked Parliamentary sanction for the construction of the cruisers to have commenced on the scrapping of the vessels they are replacing. The destroyers would in any case have been allowed for in the Estimates to be placed before the House for the financial year 1924–25.