800 arms firms demand government spend

800 arms firms have sent an open letter to chancellor Rachel Reeves demanding she open a special ‘war’ bank just for them. These massive scroungers want guaranteed flows of state cash so they can line their pockets from global instability. Reeves doesn’t appear to have answered them yet. But Keir Starmer has pledged to build the UK economy around war — despite evidence suggesting defence spending does little for growth.

Politico reported:

More than 800 British defense companies have urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to launch a global rearmament bank to guarantee lending to the sector as the U.K. government attempts to ramp up military spending

The letter was coordinated by Make UK Defence, a trade body for arms firms. They want the UK signed up to a Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB). A former senior NATO official is leading the charge:

The DSRB was conceived by former head of NATO innovation, Rob Murray, with the aim of creating a multilateral AAA-rated bank providing loans to allied governments, potentially allowing the U.K. to borrow directly from the institution at a lower cost.

The British government ruled out such a measure in September 2025. But now they are under pressure from the arms firms looking to guarantee a few more third homes and yachts for shareholders.

Accelerate defence spending

Make UK Defence chief Andrew Kinniburgh wrote in the letter seen by Politico:

It is therefore essential that defence spending is accelerated in a way that translates into real industrial capacity and military capability. The DSRB could be a significant pillar in achieving this, alongside our NATO and non-NATO allies.

Politico explained that arms firms are sad they don’t have all of the money:

A multinational rearmament bank would also provide credit guarantees to commercial banks, allowing them to lend at a greater scale to defense businesses, which report struggles in accessing finance, particularly among small and medium-sized firms.

Please, won’t somebody think of the arms firms?

On a side-note, if you look at Make UK Defence’s website you’ll find its backers include everything from establishment think-tanks like the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI) to arms firms like Lockheed, Boeing and Anduril. You’ll also see various military charities like the RAF Benevolent Fund and SSAFA.

Perverse. But at least they’re committed to Net Zero. Great work, team. All is forgiven…

A spokesperson for the UK treasury said:

We are committed to deepening cooperation with our allies to deter and disrupt threats — including strengthening the UK’s unshakeable commitment to NATO.

But Labour’s economic plans have holes in them so big you could drive an aircraft carrier through them.

Military Keynesianism

The Labour government has decided to build an economy around Military Keynesianism. Their logic is off. Economist Michael Burke has said:

There is an entire body of thought devoted to the idea of promoting military spending as an economic benefit dubbed by its supporters as ‘military Keynesianism’.

John Maynard Keynes was a socialist-ish economist whose work on government spending informed many positive state programs in the 20th century.  But what Starmer has proposed is a “vulgarisation of Keynes’ work”:

supporters suggest any type of government spending is beneficial to the economy, and given that military spending enhances the power and prestige of the country, then military spending should be prioritised.

It’s easy to get bogged down in complex economics here. But here is Burke’s key point:

military spending has one of the lowest ‘employment multipliers’ of all economic categories.

He added:

It ranks 70^th in terms of the employment it generates, out of 100.

So what sort of economic activity actually is good? Well:

Health is rated number 1.  Everything from agriculture to energy to food manufacture, chemicals, iron and steel, to computers, construction, and a host of others in between all have greater ‘employment multipliers’ than military spending.

Labour obsession with handing out free money to arms firms seems more ideological than useful. That said, they have stated they aren’t going to start up a war bank. But Starmer’s government is weak and getting weaker. They’re still inured to NATO, the US and the demands of global capital. Time will tell if they hold out in the face of pressure from Big Death.

Featured image via the Canary