The negotiations concerning naval disarmament that took place in Geneva in 1927 were more complex and more fraught than their air and land counter parts. The immediate origins of the Geneva Naval Conference dated from President Coolidge's announcement in early 1925 that the American government now believed that there was no need for competition in armaments production. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill, was firmly of the view that expenditure should be significantly reduced and had ordered the creation of the Naval Programme Committee in February 1925 to consider the matter. A plan of rapid or stringent naval disarmament could jeopardise the fabric of British life, injuring the supply of food and raw materials for industry, as well as the security of the empire. Cecil wanted a discussion of the fundamental principles on which an agreement on naval disarmament could be brokered within the context of the Baldwin government's commitment to consider all aspects of armament reduction.