25. Mr. Lindsayasked the Secretary of State for War what is the cost of manufacture of a F.N. rifle made in the Royal Ordnance factory at Enfield and by the Birmingham Small Arms Company in Shirley, Solihull, respectively.
§ Mr. SoamesPrices in Government contracts are confidential, but I can say that the current B.S.A. price is about 17 per cent. lower than the Enfield one. The main reason for the difference is that, because of changes in defence policy, a considerable reduction was made in the order to the Royal Ordnance Factories after they had tooled up for manufacture. The B.S.A. contract was not altered in this way.