ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a review of the United Kingdom (UK) increasing dependence on commercial firms and practices, taking a distinctly historical perspective. It explains the on-shore supply base and its importance to defence before considering broader economic and employment considerations. The chapter deals with the strategic deterrence, nuclear power systems, and the national shipbuilding strategy. The national shipbuilding strategy that the government published in the summer of 2017 recognised the importance of the defence supply base and reflected all the different lines of thought that have characterised UK defence industrial stances. Under the Thatcherite notion that the government should not be responsible for directing the direction of economic development, there was no industrial policy and thus no defence industrial policy was articulated or pursued. The attitudes of the British governmental defence community towards the private sector have evolved significantly over centuries and continue to do so.
