§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the defence expenditure for 1974 for the United States of America and for the United Kingdom, expressed as a percentage of gross national product, and on a per capita dollar basis for both countries as well as the planned expenditure for the next five years expressed in the same ways for both countries.
§ Mr. MasonAs shown in Chapter 1 Figure 1 of the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1975, defence expenditure592W (NATO definition) for 1974 for the United States of America was estimated to be 6.6 per cent. of GNP and for the United Kingdom 5.8 per cent. of GNP. On a per capita dollar basis the figures were, respectively, $397 and $172.
There are no comparable NATO figures for five years ahead. As far as the United Kingdom is concerned, the post Defence Review expenditure patterns are shown in Chapter 1, paragraph 75 of the 1975 Defence White Paper. On the Defence Review assumptions of GNP growth, these figures would reduce defence expenditure to about 4½ per cent. of GNP over 10 years.
§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for Defence in what respects the standard NATO definition of defence expenditure differs from the United Kingdom's definition of defence expenditure.
§ Mr. MasonConversion to the NATO definition adds some £200 million to the United Kingdom Defence Budget in 1975–76. Details are set out in Table 2 to Annex A to the 1975 Statement on the Defence Estimates (Cmnd. 5976).