A Fareham company has received the praise of a Government minister during a question and answer session this week in Parliament.
I asked Defence Minister Harriet Baldwin:
‘What recent progress has been made on bringing HMS Queen Elizabeth into service?’
The Minister responded by saying:
‘HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed from Rosyth in June to commence her sea trials.
'She made her first entry into Portsmouth in August for a scheduled engineering period. Her second set of sea trials should begin this week, weather permitting.
'She remains on track to be accepted into the Royal Navy this year.’
I then follow up by asking:
‘Will my hon. Friend confirm that, as well as projecting global Britain’s power for the next 50 years, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will provide long-term skilled job opportunities and training for people in Portsmouth and in neighbouring constituencies such as mine?’
The Minister replied by praising the work of Boskalis Westminster Ltd – a dredging company based to the West of Fareham that helped prepare Portsmouth Harbour for the new class of aircraft carriers – by saying:
‘My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out that this is not only about the 10,000 people who have worked on getting the ship to the point where she is now, but about long-term sustainment over the next 50 years.
‘May I take this opportunity to put on record my appreciation to the Fareham company Boskalis Westminster Ltd, which did a lot of the dredging of Portsmouth Harbour.’