ABSTRACT
This chapter covers period from the arrival in power of the new Labour government to June 1965 when Healey breaks the impasse with the Foreign Office by proposing what became known as the 'Healey plan' at the 2nd Chequers meeting. It discusses the Navy Department's first moves to make its case for the carrier and Healey's initial investigations into the carrier issue. The chapter also analyses the response of the Treasury and the central Ministry of Defence to the Navy's digging in, in defence of the aircraft carrier. It deals with the sidelining of Mountbatten and then the new studies launched under the aegis of the Permanent Secretary. It will not cover the arguments and discussions over the Polaris that were occurring concurrently to most of these discussions, as they have been analysed elsewhere.
