Extracts from Westminster Hall debate on Shipbuilding Strategy - Jan 23
Wednesday, 24 January 2018 08:49
Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con):...The context in which one
wishes to set this is the relentless decline in the size of the
frigate and destroyer fleet. The House will probably not need
reminding that we had more than 60 frigates and destroyers at the
time of the Falklands campaign. By the time that my cohort
came into the House of Commons in 1997, that number had come down
to 35 frigates and destroyers... Jim Shannon (Strangford)
(DUP):...To return to the Royal Navy’s ability...Request free trial
(New Forest East)
(Con):...The context in which one wishes to set this is
the relentless decline in the size of the frigate and destroyer
fleet. The House will probably not need reminding that we had more
than 60 frigates and destroyers at the time of the Falklands campaign. By the time that my cohort
came into the House of Commons in 1997, that number had come down
to 35 frigates and destroyers...
(Strangford) (DUP):...To
return to the Royal Navy’s ability to fulfil all its missions, let
us consider some of the things that we are aware that the Royal
Navy does today. Fisheries protection will become more apparent
when we leave the European Union on 31 March 2019. All our seas
will be back in our control, and when they are, we will need to
police them to ensure that other countries do not take advantage of
places where they once fished, but where they will only be able to
fish if they have an agreement with us. We must put that on record.
The Navy has a role in the FalklandIslands and in anti-piracy in
eastern Africa, as well as in dealing with refugees in the
Mediterranean. The demands on the Royal Navy are immense; we should
keep that in mind...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
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