By Blythe Crawford CBE

The upcoming Budget has already proven itself to be a test.

The Chancellor can either scatter a myriad of short-term fixes, which will without doubt have negative effects on some area of the populace — or turn Back British Industry into a mission that ties security to prosperity.

After years of flatlining productivity and shrinking manufacturing, Britain needs a growth plan rooted in making things again. And there is one sector that can do it faster than any other: defence.

Defence isn’t just about security; it’s about sovereignty, skills and self-reliance. It already accounts for roughly 2.3 per cent of GDP—some £66 billion a year —yet the Ministry of Defence’s own statistics show that 16% of its industry expenditure went overseas in the last year.

Every contract awarded abroad is a missed opportunity to train a British engineer, hire a British welder, or support a British apprentice. We are literally exporting our own potential.

Moreover, the pillars of national resilience - our energy systems, communications networks and data infrastructure - are indispensable to defence, national security and the wider economy.

That is why defence must be understood as a whole-of-nation endeavour, a point the Chief of the Defence Staff made unmistakably clear last week.

The challenge is not just how much we spend but how we spend it. Too often bureaucracy and risk-aversion turn defence procurement into a waiting game, which costs both time and money. Our allies and adversaries are innovating at digital speed,........

© LBC