Only paranoia can justify the world's second biggest military budget

Britain's level of defence spending isn't related to real threats we face, but the needs of our military-industrial complex

George Monbiot
Tuesday November 28, 2006
The Guardian

No one noticed. Or if they did, no one complained. The government didn't even bother to issue a press release. Last week the Ministry of Defence quietly secured a £1.7bn increase in its budget. The spending for 2006-7 was allocated months ago, which means that another fund must have been raided to find the extra money. It's the equivalent of half the annual budget for the Department for International Development. But another billion or two doesn't make much difference when we are already sloshing out £32bn a year on a programme whose purpose is a mystery.

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