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Defence Industrial Strategy

The answer to the last question is yes: I am always ready for such meetings. I met those representatives recently, as my hon. Friend knows. I am prepared to meet them again, and he can be present again, if he so wishes. He asked about balance, and I assure him that there is no categorisation according to classification. Building what we traditionally regard as major warships at the upper end of the market calls for high technology and high skills, and can be sustained only by a systemic and systematic order process. At the lower end of the market, peaks and troughs occur according to fleet requirements. We are thinking about combining the two approaches, but yesterday’s allocation of work—part of which went to my hon. Friend’s constituency—makes it clear that my intention is to have a shipbuilding industry that is stable and sustainable in the long term, and which maintains the highest level of skills.