§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement regarding the Royal Navy's need for, ard the future supply position of, small vessels.
§ Mr. SpeedAs indicated in the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1981 (Cmnd. 8121-I) we are currently examining the overall defence programme. Pending the outcome of this examination we shall not be in a position to assess our future requirements for smaller vessels.