Managing Britain's Defence

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.