THE Tories’ defence chief got a ship from James Bond confused with a real Navy one in a query to officials.
James Cartlidge asked the Ministry of Defence about the cost of repairing the non-existent HMS Devonshire.
The fictional ship is sunk by the villain in 1997 film Tomorrow Never Dies, starring Pierce Brosnan as 007.
And the last Royal Navy vessel called HMS Devonshire was built in the 1960s and sunk for target practice in the Atlantic in 1984.
Former Defence Minister Mr. Cartlidge utilized written questions in Parliament to inquire with Labour’s Defence Secretary John Healey about the expenses involved in fixing structural problems on HMS Devonshire.
Defence chiefs toyed with writing a flippant 007- inspired response.
But they also wondered if he was asking about salvaging a decades-old wreck from the bottom of the ocean.
In response, Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle clarified that there is no vessel named HMS Devonshire presently active in the Royal Navy.
Later on, Mr. Cartlidge corrected his error, acknowledging that he had actually intended to inquire about HMS Northumberland, a specialized anti-submarine frigate that the government decommissioned in November, deeming the cost of repairing it as not cost-effective.
Last night, he joked that he intentionally made the blunder to see if the MoD was using AI instead of humans to answer questions.
He said: “I’m pleased to say they passed the test on this occasion.
Following confirmation in a separate written answer that submissions to the much vaunted Strategic Defence Review will be read by AI, it’s fair to say we’ve been testing . . . they are still being read by humans.”
