Finance managers within the UK private sector believe defence to be an area prime for budget cuts, according to a survey conducted by Lindsell Marketing.

In the survey, 33% of respondents highlighted defence as an area of government spending that should receive cuts in order to address the deficit with several other areas, such as health, and law and order, which are seen to be “leaner”.

Lindsell Marketing managing director Paul Lindsell said that frontline social services, such as the NHS or the police force, do not appear to have as much “fat”, such is their continual pressure to improve.

“Two immeasurably difficult conflicts in the last decade could also affect general opinion,” he said.