The fiscal interpretation here makes debt repayment the British government's main postwar spending priority. It compares the cuts after the First World War with retrenchment after the Napoleonic Wars. Promises of social and welfare reform are contrasted with the money directed toward reducing debt. Avoiding a new naval race therefore fits a wider effort to limit government expenditure. Debt repayment therefore reinforces the objection to the small-carrier programme.
Notable Point · 1:11:35-1:12:28
War-debt repayment and British reluctance to start a naval race
The objection to another naval race forms part of an interpretation of British postwar spending as dominated by debt repayment.