Orders of the Day — Merchant Fleet

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 9:35 pm on 9 July 1992.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of John Reid John Reid , Motherwell North 9:35, 9 July 1992

I am sory to intervene again, but I did not realise that such a substantial response would be made tonight.

Does the Minister realise that what he has said about Operation Granby is at total odds with the Select Committee on Defence analysis, on which it spent a great deal of time? It concluded that there was an almost total absence of UK shipping from the lists of ships providing the sealift for Granby … The significance of the degree of dependence displayed must be addressed by MOD in its analysis of the lessons of Granby. Is the Minister saying that the Select Committee was totally wrong and that its analysis has been either ignored or rejected after investigation under the MOD review? Can he confirm that MOD police are now investigating allegations of fraud during the chartering operation for Granby? I am not asking for details, but can he confirm that an investigation of fraud during the chartering contracts process is under way?