I am most grateful to the Minister. He is obviously very clever, because he has led me straight on to my next point, which is about the replacement for the Invincible class, the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier. He perhaps forgot to mention that, even some time after 2020, when we eventually get a functioning aircraft carrier, it will only be part-time. We will only be able to operate it for perhaps 150 days of the year, so we must be really hopeful that those who seek to attack us only do it on the five or six months a year when we are able to respond. It reminds me of Asterix the Gaul and the scene where he comes to Britain and the British have gone home at 5 o'clock to have their tea. That is pretty much the kind of part-time navy that we will have if the Minister gets his way.
Strategic Defence and Security Review
Proceeding contribution from
Thomas Docherty
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Thursday, 26 January 2012.
It occurred during Backbench debate on Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
539 c495-6 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
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Timestamp
2023-12-15 19:11:50 +0000
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