Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Defence – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 19 February 1964.
Mr Patrick Wall
, Haltemprice
12:00,
19 February 1964
asked the Minister of Defence what decision has been reached about the replacement of Sea Vixen aircraft for the Royal Navy.
Mr Denis Healey
, Leeds East
asked the Minister of Defence when he will make a statement regarding aircraft to replace the Hunter and Sea Vixen.
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
I have nothing at present to add to previous statements but propose to announce future plans in the defence debate next week.
Mr Patrick Wall
, Haltemprice
Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind the importance of providing for the Royal Navy aircraft which are not hybrids and the equal importance of redeveloping the P.1154 as rapidly as possible?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
I will bear those considerations in mind.
Mr Denis Healey
, Leeds East
To ensure that Her Majesty's Government cannot be accused of deceiving the House by publishing Defence Estimates which do not take into account the new projects, can the right hon. Gentleman assure the House that when he announces his decision about these matters he will also state the cost falling on Her Majesty's Government in these respects during the coming financial year and the estimated cost over the next five years? As the right hon. Gentleman thought that I had tabled a Question about the Hawker Siddeley 681, would he answer my previous query about that?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
What I have been proposing to do—I think it would be for the convenience of the House—is to make a comprehensive statement about these aircraft in the debate. I will include the Estimates point at the same time, but the Estimates are accurate for the forecast.
Sir Arthur Harvey
, Macclesfield
Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that he will make every effort to ensure that the requirements of the Navy in this respect are met from British home production and that the order does not go abroad even if it means some delay?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
I will give full consideration to that. I do not want to prejudge the statement which I shall be making in some detail on a fairly wide front later.
Mr Denis Healey
, Leeds East
Might I press the right hon. Gentleman on what he has just said—that the estimates are accurate for the forecast? Did he mean to imply that the Estimates already presented to the House include provision for these aircraft? If so, why on earth did he not announce his decision, since he has already taken it, in the Defence white paper, instead of springing it on the House as a surprise in the defence debate and trying to distract attention from the obvious weaknesses of the White Paper as a whole?
Mr Peter Thorneycroft
, Monmouth
Perhaps we can go into that in the debate.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
