These intentions were outlined by Defense Secretary George Younger as he unveiled this year's Defense White Paper shortly before the June 11 election was announced. "We shall be taking a close looking at defense programs with a high R&D element, to ensure that government funding is really essential," Younger said. "At the same time, we hope to move finance into non-military research." Although the other two competitors in the election—the Labour Party and the Social Democratic/Liberal Alliance—have promised a substantial boost in money for civil science, neither party has advocated a specific reallocation from defense.
Younger's comments marked a significant policy shift by the Thatcher government in response to recent claims by industrialists, economists and even the Cabinet's own science adviser, John Fairclough, that defense has been consuming too large a share of R&D funds. At present some 55 percent of total government R&D expenditure flows from the Ministry of ...
