ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the economic aspect of defence spending, this is to be seen as a by-product rather than the core of the subject. The arguments against maintaining the present level of defence expenditure illustrate the background to Labour’s policy. Defence cuts could be carried out in various ways with varying political and strategic consequences. The defence industries employ some of our most skilled workers, consume products appropriate for capital investment and have in part been responsible for the distortion of industrial development in Britain. Certainly Britain has an impressive record of arms production, but it has been at the expense of the socially productive side of British industry. The British arms industry is dependent upon arms exports. It seems rash indeed to rely on the arms industry as a major factor in Britain’s economic stability, such investment being based on the inherent political instability of the customers.
