[Tomvart]

I don't think the report (or myself) is suggesting that we go back to having an enormous fleet at all David, just trying point out that the procurement authority needs to have a choice of suppliers when they go out to tender....without needing to go shopping abroad.

From what I have read - on Monday, there were only 3 shipyards left in the UK that were capable of building warships (other than the Carrier Alliance), today...only 2 remain, one of them is BAE up in Scotland (likely to have a monopoly on all warship builds if the current trend continues), the other is Camel Lairds here on the Wirral - who have not built a complete warship in decades and are now laying men off - I'd say that was critical!

If they can build warships - they can also build merchant ships, however I agree that getting the price to be competitive whilst winning sufficient orders from the shipping companies is a significant challenge - particularly when you have to compete with Far Eastern builders that drive down the price by having huge economies of scale.