Dockyards

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 3:30 pm on 24 June 1993.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Malcolm Rifkind Malcolm Rifkind The Secretary of State for Defence 3:30, 24 June 1993

I appreciate that the period of uncertainty has been a problem; in ideal circumstances, we would want to avoid it, but the responsibility does not lie purely with the Government. Over the past six months, both Devonport and Rosyth have brought forward several modifications to their proposals and requested us to take them into account before reaching a decision, which we have done. That has been an important factor. We could have refused to consider them, but I feel that the hon. Gentleman would have been the first to complain that the case put forward by his local community had not been fully considered. The hon. Gentleman should bear that in mind.