CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
DEFENCE WHITE PAPER
CHAPTER I
THE DEFENCE REVIEW
THE REVIEW SO FAR
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The Government's commitment
1. On 21 March 1974 the Government announced that it had
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"initiated a review of current defence commitments and capabilities
against the resources that, given the economic prospects of the
country, we could afford to devote to defence" (House of Commons,
Official Report Vol. 870, No 13 WA Cols. 153 and 154). The aim of this
review was to give effect to the Government's pledge to achieve
savings on defence expenditure of several hundred million pounds
per annum over a period while maintaining a modern and effective
defence system.
Background to the Review
2. In the 1968 Supplementary Statement on Defence Policy
(Cmnd. 3701) the Labour Government made clear its intention trat
"Britain's defence forces, apart from those needed to meet certain
residual obligations to dependent territories.
be concentrated in Europe".
should
This remains the Government's firm
policy. But the Conservative Government's 1970 Supplementary
Statement on Defence Policy (Cmnd. 4521), while accepting that the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) should remain the first
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