ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by assessing the relatively modest role of defence policy in electoral competition before moving on to consider party imagery and recent political postures on the question. This discussion argues that the notion of an external policy consensus still has far more validity than many of its critics would argue, when understood in terms of frontbench agreement on the fundamentals of defence policy when in office – rather than an unrealistic benchmark which demands that all policy actors should agree on everything, all of the time. It also considers the position of each of the major parties in Britain with regard to defence – with particular emphasis on the SNP’s non-nuclear policy for an independent Scotland. The chapter goes on to consider the relationship between public opinion and the making of British defence policy. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the role of pressure groups within the MoD’s policy community – focusing particularly on the impact and influence of the defence industry upon the operation of British politics given their use of ex-Service professional lobbyists and the operation of the ‘revolving door’, it also touches briefly on the dangers of this emerging practice and the very real possibility that it will lead to corruption.
