So a ballistics expert will, on Newsnight, describe the sale to Iraq of what are essentially divining rods for the purpose of detecting explosives. Of course, he is right.
Also positively immoral is the entire international trade in arms, one of the very few things still made in this country. All sale of arms abroad should be banned outright, provided that the Government had put in the groundwork to ensure continuing employment elsewhere for the often highly skilled workers involved. And BAE should be returned to public ownership as the monopoly supplier to the British Armed Forces.
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Interesting. I never knew that BAE was once in public ownership. Some folks argue that all major defense industries ought to be in public ownership so as to avoid the problem of private war profiteering. Also, some argue that many defense or defense-related industries, like aerospace for example, are so dependent on government contracts and subsidies of various kinds that perhaps it would be more efficient just to nationalize them. In this sense, defense industries are like natural monopolies, somewhat similar to public utilities or railways.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, I don't know what I think of these arguments, but it is certainly an interesting topic. I believe John Kenneth Galbraith made arguments in favor of defense industry nationalization in his book "The New Industrial State."
Most past or present companies called "British" this or "British" that were created by the act of nationalising certain industries in the post-War decades (or in some cases before), so were in public ownership until the Thatcher, or sometimes Major, years. The same is true of "National".
ReplyDeleteAh, I see. Thank you for clarifying that for me, Mr. Lindsay.
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