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In this situation do
you think we need more officers?
A. No, I don't think so. With what we have, and they are working very hard,
we have got about the right number. We are strengthening the Marine Police, as you know there are nine launches coming into commission this year, and this will help a good deal. All the time the techniques of interception and identification are improving. But while we do have about the right numbers on the job they are very hard worked indeed. This applies in particular
to the garrison and I think we have got to remember just how hard they are being worked. They can keep it up but it's a factor that one has to bear
in 、. mind.
Q. Are we going to spend more money?
1.
A. Well we are spending more money on the Marine Police. As you know Sir
Philip Haddon-Cave has been talking about the cost of the Garrison to the Ministry of Defence. There are two rather separate issues here which I think he explained, one is deciding on what basis one should calculate the cost of the Garrison and an army is not an easy thing to cost like a pair of shoes or binoculars it is a very complicated thing and we are trying to work out costing methods which are absolutely right and which we don't need to fiddle with in future. It's taking a bit of time, it is extremely complicated, in fact so complicated that I propose to sit in mute and try to learn on the next round of negotiations, so that I will understand more about this extremely complicated situation the subject on which we have got to take decisions in September. Getting back to your question yes we are going to have to spend more on defence.
Q. There has been talk about Government reviewing the policy of repatriating
the II's is there any progress with that review?
A. As I say this is a serious situation and one we keep under very careful
review the whole time - keep under review all the possible methods of
dealing with it. What you refer to is a conceivable matter but there are
penalties attached to it and we have no plans to introduce this at the
moment.
"
/Q. Is there ....
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