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Modernising Logistics Provision

I think the hon. Gentleman has made his mind up before listening to the facts. He says that he wants to hear the facts, and I would happy to discuss the details with the trade unions. I have said that the part of the business at Fleetlands connected with engine support has lost major contracts in a competitive bid. Is the hon. Gentleman saying that we should have ignored that, placing on-costs on the defence budgets? If we are trying to drive efficiency into the system and make the yard competitive, we have to face the consequences of losing bids. That is what happened with engine support and it is not a consequence of any lack of commitment on the part of the work force. The hon. Gentleman is right that they have tried to achieve the new efficiency standards, but the contracts were at a mature point and had to be placed. The hon. Gentleman is asking an impossible question. He asks me to predict the future of the aerospace market in this country—I do not know how far ahead—but I cannot do that. No one can do that. If he is saying that the MOD should retain facilities with inefficient operations at extra cost simply because something—we know not what—may happen in the future, he is not living in the real world. The other part of Fleetlands, however, has a future and I do not think that the hon. Gentleman heard what I said. We took a decision, on which I thought the hon. Gentleman would compliment me, to move work from Army and naval bases back to Fleetlands, providing the civilian work force with greater opportunities for the future. I just wish that, in some of his criticisms, he would recognise that.