One of the few ways the Government and the arms companies can rally public support for the arms trade is to claim that it keeps people in work and helps the UK economy (also see arms trade jobs).
However, rather than being an economic boon, arms exports are subsidised by the taxpayer. In the words of the Financial Times' international economy editor,
You can have as many arms export jobs as you are prepared to waste public money subsidising.
Financial Times, 10 August 2010
Recent analysis carried out for CAAT by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), assesses the level of subsidy to be around £700 million per year (see below table). This total includes arms export promotion activity, export credit support and, the largest element of the subsidy, research & development funding.
SIPRI table of UK arms export subsidies, 2009/10
| Subsidy type | £ million |
|---|---|
| UKTI DSO | 15.8 |
| Military attachés | 20.0 |
| Use of armed forces | 5.3 |
| Defence Assistance Fund | 5.0 |
| Official visits | 5.0 |
| Missile Defence Centre | 5.0 |
| Direct distortion | 5.0 |
| ECGD | 75.4 |
| Sub-total | 136.5 |
| Development * | 562.4 |
| Grand total | 698.9 |
Further Reading
Assessment of UK arms export subsidies
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, May 2011 PDF (153k)
Escaping the Subsidy Trap: Why Arms Exports are bad for Britain
BASIC, Oxford Research Group & Saferworld, 2004 PDF (237k)
Arms Export Subsidies
CAAT factsheet, 2004
The Economic Costs and Benefits of UK Defence Exports
M. Chalmers, N.V. Davies, K. Hartley & C. Wilkinson, University of York, 2001 PDF (578k)
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