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DeliciousIndustry welcomes emergency budget
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
While the ongoing strategic defence and security review meant there were no specific measures announced for defence, Osborne's moves to encourage a business-led recovery were welcomed by industry.
Richard Lambert, Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, said: "The Chancellor has achieved his twin objectives of setting out a credible plan for the public finances and producing a convincing growth strategy for the longer-term.
"There was clear recognition in the Budget of the role that business needs to play in getting the economy back into shape, and generating the jobs and wealth needed to sustain economic recovery."
The Chancellor also announced that there would be "careful choices" to be made over capital spending in the future, but that there would be no further cuts to existing plans.
Defence industry body ADS welcomed the budget, with director of policy Derek Marshall saying: "The Government is right to maintain capital spending and to view this through the prism of significant economic return to the country. This is particularly applicable to defence spending because £100 million spent on defence delivers a return of £227 million to the UK economy. Defence employs 300,000 people across all regions of the country and contributes over £35 billion per year to the UK economy.
"Given the Chancellor's recognition of the pressure on the defence budget and also the fact that defence spending has halved as a proportion of GDP over the last twenty years we look forward to the government confirming through the Strategic Defence and Security Review that further reductions in the defence budget will not be made," said Marshall.
"A commitment to reducing the overall tax paid by manufacturers is also good news and will assist our members to further contribute to the UK's economic recovery," he said. "The contribution of small businesses to the UK's success in aerospace, defence, security and space cannot be underestimated. For example, in defence alone the UK has more SMEs than France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Norway combined. Small firms underpin our country's innovation and our participation in supply chains for programmes across the globe. The assistance announced to enable them to access credit is good news but reducing the rates of capital allowances offsets the benefits somewhat."
HAVE YOUR SAY
UK govt budget cut deliberations ought to factor in potential effects on the UK's current & future world roles as well as how whatever decisions are made will substantially effect future UKtrade relationships, interests & objectives!!
Strategies for maintaining the UK's, surface combatant, subsurface combatant- & other military vessel types & related technologies- innovation, design & construction capabilities several decades into the future should prominently factor into whatever decisions are made regarding the UK's govt spending and its budget during the coming years.
Similarly, regarding the Trident renewal/Vanguard successor class submarine projects' issues: decision-making processes should be considering the UK's optimal global 'industrial, technological & military competence & capabilities' profiles & how whatever decisions are made will enormously affect these profiles...
Wimping out by using dangerous, false-logic as an excuse to not proceed with- AND FIX- currently active, but seriously flawed- & closely internationally followed- defence programmes such as the Type-45 Destroyer & Astute class nuclear attack submarine projects, and not continuing the vital-to-national-security Vanguard successor class submarine/Trident nuclear ballistic missile renewal project...
... and for the UK to not maintain a continually at-sea nuclear deterrent....
... would be inviting the UK's removal from the world's most powerful and influential geopolitical, financial, trade, legal & military organizations...
What geo-political, economic, research, trade & other types of benefits can potentially be expected from the above referenced and in particular- the Vanguard successor/Trident renewal programmes??
Would the UK's removal from the world's most exclusive, top decision making tables damage future UK trade interests- & by extension: future national budgets- less than the projected costs of proceeding with the Type-45 Destroyer, Astute nuclear submarine and Vanguard successor/Trident renewal programmes??
Any country- such as the UK- with a better-part-of-2-centuries long history occupying leading positions on the world's most powerful and influential political, legal, trade, financial and military bodies needs to be seen to be structuring its military capabilities and high-tech/industrial competencies as though it intends to retain these positions...
.... 12 years of Labour govt gross negligence, deliberate lack of long term military force level & capabilities' planning & putting party-political histrionics ahead of national duty have left the RN an emaciated, neutered, excessively-vulnerable-to-modern-airborne-anti-ship-weapons force!!
...resulting in the UK & its assets- particularly overseas ones- at high risk- if not inviting aggression- from both state & non-state actors world-wide...
... & jeopardizing the UK's hugely valuable, leading positions on the world's most powerful international political, financial, military & legal bodies such as Nato, the UN's 'permanent 5' group of its Security Council, the IMF, G8, G20 & the like...
If the UK builds- or becomes known to be intending to build- less than half the operationally-required numbers of an integral to national defence & 'world roles' class of military vessel- in this case submarines- during a 2-decade span- the UK can expect to be viewed by other countries as weak and ambitionless- possessing misguided and incompetent leadership, and not worthy of retaining its long-held positions of leadership on the world's most powerful and influential political, legal, trade, financial and military bodies...
Roderick V. Louis - Vancouver, BC, Canada