§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will set up an inquiry into how Ferranti Ltd. was enabled to advertise in the latest issue of "Defence" magazine mentioning three new nuclear-powered submarines which have not yet been announced by his Department;
(2) if the names of the first three hunter-killer nuclear-powered submarines are to be HMS "Tactician", HMS "Tireless" and HMS "Torbay";
(3) when he expects to announce the order for hunter-killer nuclear-powered submarines; and how many will be ordered.
§ Mr. SpeedThe name of a Royal Navy submarine is not normally announced officially until construction has commenced in the vessel's building berth. I cannot therefore comment on the names of vessels which have not208W reached this stage. However, I am satisfied that the incident involving the Ferranti advertisement in the April edition of "Defence" magazine does not warrant an inquiry. Future orders of hunter-killer nuclear-powered submarines are currently the subject of discussion within the Ministry of Defence as part of the review of the overall warship building programme.