asked the Financial Secretary to the Admiralty if he can indicate, even approximately, the probable number of men on Merseyside who will obtain employment from the building of the two new battleships and the probable total amount of wages which will be paid to them?

The average number of men in the Mersey district to whom this Order will give employment, over the three years of building, is estimated to be about 2,100. The wages to be spent will be about £1,100,000.