HC Deb 30 January 1963 vol 670 cc923-4
14. Sir C. Osborne

asked the Minister of Defence what has been the total cost of national defence for each year since 1951 inclusive; if he is satisfied with the value obtained from this expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Thorneycroft

I will, with permission, circulate the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT. The value of this expenditure is shown by the facts that we have not had a major war, and that in the operations we have undertaken the Forces have done all that was required of them.

Sir C. Osborne

Since Stalin and Stalin's policy are both dead and since Mr. Khrushchev has offered to live more peacefully with the West, does not the Minister think that we should pay more attention to that and save the taxpayer from these enormous sums which we are spending against an attack from the Soviet Union which may never take place?

Mr. Thorneycroft

The sum spent on defence must depend on the obligations placed on the defence forces of the Crown. I do not see much possibility of an immediate reduction in those obligations.

Mr. Wigg

Would not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the cost of defence depends not only on the Armed Forces but also on the errors of Government policy?

Mr. Thorneycroft

But primarily it depends on the obligations which one lays on the Armed Forces. We can discuss how we do this in the debate, but unless one reduces those obligations there is not much prospect of reducing the cost.

Sir C. Osborne

Is the Minister saying that there is no hope in the immediate future of these colossal sums being reduced?

Mr. Thorneycroft

To be frank, I think that they are likely to rise at least as fast as the gross national product.

Following are the figures:

£million
1951–52 … … … 1,123
1952–53 … … … 1,393
1953–54 … … … 1,358
1954–55 … … … 1,447
1955–56 … … … 1,407
1956–57 … … … 1,519
1957–58 … … … 1,440
1958–59 … … … 1,451
1959–60 … … … 1,484
1960–61 … … … 1,603
1961–62 … … … 1,680
(provisional outturn)
1962–63 … … … 1,760
(estimated outturn)