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But a lot of those 20 billion pounds also went to enrich the arms manufacturing company owners and keeping factory workers in jobs. So cynically, it's probably
by sfifs 8y ago
But a lot of those 20 billion pounds also went to enrich the arms manufacturing company owners and keeping factory workers in jobs. So cynically, it's probably a net win for the UK Government :-)
As Frederick Forsyth said in one of his novels, arms manufacturing factories once started cannot be shut down when you have outfitted your own armies - hence exports.
- Arnt 8y agoThat sounds too glib to be true. Consider nuclear weapons. About eight or nine armies have that, nearly 100% made in the relevant country... those factories were started with the clear condition that they would produce for the domestic market only, they set their prices accordingly, and it worked. What doesn't work is encouraging people to invest in arms production and later telling them they cannot export. Doing that may work, but the prohibition often fails. And fairly IMO. Those are long-term investments and it's not fair to change the rules on much shorter notice.