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Chancellor's claims of economic boost from handout to arms companies ‘nonsense’, say campaigners
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves during a visit Babcock in Rosyth, to talk about growing the defence sector to kickstart economic growth and bolster national security, March 14, 2025

CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves’s £2 billion boost to arms companies under the pretence of “driving growth” were dismissed as “nonsense” by campaigners today.

Visiting Rosyth Naval Dockyard in Fife today, Ms Reeves announced an increase UK Export Finance (UKEF) lending capacity, from £8bn to £10bn, in a bid to boost sales of British-made missiles, aircraft and armoured vehicles on the international market.

The announcement comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calls for a “reshaping” of the economy towards arms production. The government aims to ramp up military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, while taking an axe to the international development budget and threatening to wipe billions from social security funding.

“But research from the Scottish government shows that military spending has one of the lowest ‘employment multipliers’ of all economic categories, sitting at 70th out of 100, while health spending ranks first.

“What we’re seeing is the syphoning of billions in public funds to arms and nuclear firms who continue to post record profits while the population suffers from an ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

“Britain’s arms export regime needs more scrutiny, not more government financing as so-called ‘allies’ like Saudi Arabia and Israel continue to receive British-made arms and components – despite a growing body of evidence showing serious breaches of international law.”  

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