§ Mr. Churchillasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the ratio of capital ships of the Royal Navy to industrial and non-industrial civil servants (combined figure) on the portion of the Defence Vote attributable to the operation of the Royal Navy, and what were 99W the actual numbers in each of the years 1954, 1964, 1974 and estimated for 1980.
1954 1964 1974 a. Major ships … … 321 137 90 b. Total of industrial and non-industrial civil servants … 186,000 126,000 78,000 c. Ratios—a :b … … 1:579 1:920 1:867 I cannot predict what this ratio is likely to become in 1980.