§ Mr. Sheldonasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the percentage proportion of gross national product spent on military defence from 1951 to 1967; and what estimates he has made of this percentage proportion for the period to 1971.
§ Mr. HealeyOver 90 per cent. of the total of expenditure on military defence, 253W as defined for the National Income Accounts' statistics, consists of expenditure on the Defence Budget. Figures for the Defence Budget, for 1951–52 to 1964–65, as a percentage of G.N.P. at factor cost, were given on 3rd December, 1965. For the following three years the figures are:
1965–66 … … 6.5 1966–67 … … 6.4 1967–68 (provisional) … … 6.4 For later years I am not prepared to make a forecast beyond that given on 28th June, 1968.
The composition of the remaining elements in "military defence", principally military aid, adjustments in respect of Ministry of Technology equipment purchasing votes, allied service costs and accounting adjustments fluctuates considerably from year to year and it is not possible to make a meaningful comparison over a period.—[Vol 721, c. 281–2; Vol. 767, c. 132–3.]