Managing Britain's defence

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Bibliographic Information

Managing Britain's defence

Malcolm McIntosh

Macmillan Academic and Professional, 1990

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Note

Icludes bibliographical references (p. 262-266) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Since the end of the Second World War the resources committed to Britain's defence have declined while her defence committments have remained global. For incoming Defence Ministers the problem has been matching resources to committments - a severe test of management skills for any minister. This book looks at the management of Britain's defence, focussing in detail on three Conservative Defence Secretaries, Francis Pym, John Nott and Michael Heseltine - all now out of government. The book argues that Prime Minister Thatcher's attempts to introduce strict cash controls on defence spending would have been more successful if defence decision-making took place in a less secretive culture and Parliament had more access to the Ministry of Defence. The book concludes with recommendations that would both increase Parliament's ability to oversee defence decision-making and increase government control of defence resource planning on a day-to-day and long term basis. The book argues that these two aims are entirely compatible - democratic control can only come through greater access to defence decision-making.

Table of Contents

  • Part 1 Setting the scene 1945 to 1979: defence decisons. Part 2 The decision-making process: democracy and the British constitution
  • secrecy and defence decision-making
  • the public accounts committee, the national audit office and the Commons defence select committee
  • the civil service
  • Whitehall
  • threat assessment/defence intelligence
  • public relations, propaganda and the media. Part 3 Francis Pym - Secretary of State for Defence 1979-1981: financial control and open government
  • Rayner
  • Chevaline
  • Trident C4. Part 5 John Nott - Secretary of State for Defence 1981-1983: financial control and a defence review
  • Trident C4 to D5
  • the Falklands War. Part 6 Michael Heseltine - Secretary of State for Defence 1983-1986: management and MINIS
  • central re-organization
  • the central components of the MOD after January 1985
  • Heseltine the publicist - DS19, cruise and Montebello
  • Westland Helicopters plc. Part 6 Thatcher's defence - Command and Control?. Part 7 Reforms: freedom of information
  • Parliament - specific Parliamentary reforms
  • ministerial control.

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