20.
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Resources. These include wide respect for our
confident democratic tradition and our culture (as well
as the means of promoting these things), the wide use
of the English language throughout the world, a substantial aid programme directed mainly at the
poorest, a world-wide diplomatic and intelligence
capability, as well as economic and military resources.
For many years Britain's total financial resources have
shown a relative decline, although she has continued to
discharge roughly the same international tasks.
Excluding Europe which (together with Lomé) has to be
separately considered the total resources devoted to
our overseas activities (including defence) have
nevertheless increased since May 1979 by about 12 per
cent. Within this total, important changes in the
distribution of resources have, however, taken place.
For example on the one hand spending on defence (in
1983 prices) has risen by some £2.3 billion (17.2%)
since 1979, while on the other hand aid expenditure has
fallen by some £200 million (15.4%) in this period.
Since the resources available for activity abroad are
necessarily limited, we need to consider how far this
pattern of development is right for the future. The
political and economic value of effective diplomatic
representation, the BBC external services and the
British Council, as well as a well directed aid
programme, can be important. For Britain, as for mos
if not all, of our competitors, the 1980s are likely
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