asked the Minister of Defence why he has agreed to 18 months as the period for his experiment in a mixed-manned force.

The period has been agreed by the countries considering the mixed-manned surface ship proposal as a result of military advice tendered to them.

Could not we have acquired in three months all the knowledge we need regarding the workability of the mixed-manned force? Did the right hon. Gentleman accept 18 months without demur because that period placed this important issue beyond the ambit of an election and because the Cabinet themselves on this issue have become a mixed-manned force in which no two speak the same language?

I did not fix the period; it was fixed by military advice to an international committee meeting to consider these matters. Whatever else I have done, I do not think that I could have cut it down from 18 months to three.

Is the right hon. Gentleman saying that on every occasion the advice of the military experts is always accepted without question by himself and his colleagues in the Cabinet?

This advice was not even tendered to me; it was tendered to an international committee.

Is not 18 months a convenient time to forget this bit of nonsense?