This comfortable era of something not much below peace-time plenty in the midst of the grimmest struggle our nation has ever had to face is at 3833] an end. No illusion can be more foolish than to imagine that we can go on eating our cake and still get all the guns and aeroplanes and tanks we need for the Battle of Britain.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer sounded the warning signal recently when he pointed out that since the beginning of June the total Government expenditure has been at the rate of £9,500,000 a day, which is £2,500,000 a day more than the previous average. This sudden stepping-up of expenditure is due to the tremendous acceleration in our aircraft and munitions output, and the more rapid intake of men into the armed forces.
At £9,500,000 a day our annual rate of expenditure is approximate-£3,500,000,000. Since Viscount Simon had allowed in his April Budget for a bill of only £2,667,000,000, the increase amounts to no less than 800,000,000.
The magnitude of the task that confronts us will be appreciated when it is recalled that this additional achieved without some degree of compulsion at the instigation of the Chancellor himself,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.