Shipbuilding: Warships

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem Excerpts

Wednesday 14th November 2018 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

Yes, we want the first ship in 2023, with five ships delivered by the end of 2028 to replace the five Type 23 general purpose frigates.

[Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)]

My Lords, given that the National Audit Office report of 5 November concluded that the Ministry of Defence equipment budget remains unaffordable by as much as £14.8 billion, where will the money come from to build complex warships?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, that worst-case prediction is a forecast over 10 years. We have plenty of time to manage the budget, as we always do, to make sure that we can deliver our very ambitious equipment programme. Work is in hand to do just that.