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Margaret Thatcher, Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World (2002), pp. 43–44
“

[T]he defence budget is one of the very few elements of public expenditure that can truly be described as essential. The point was well-made by a robust Labour Defence Minister, Denis (now Lord) Healey, many years ago: ‘Once we have cut expenditure to the extent where our security is imperilled, we have no houses, we have no hospitals, we have no schools. We have a heap of cinders.’

— Margaret Thatcher

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "[T]he defence budget is one of the very few elements of public expenditure that can truly be described as essential. The point was well-made by a robust Labour Defence Minister, Denis (now Lord) Healey, many years ago: ‘Once we have cut expenditure to the extent where our security is imperilled, we have no houses, we have no hospitals, we have no schools. We have a heap of cinders.’" in the context of "Margaret Thatcher, Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World (2002), pp. 43–44" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Denis Healey" (Quotes about Denis Healey) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Denis Healey#expenditure#defence#imperilled#described#essential#hospitals#elements#wellmade#minister#security#schools
Denis Healey

About Denis Healey

Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey PC (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979. He was a Member of Parliament for 40 years (from 1952 until his retirement in 1992) and was the last surviving member of the cabinet formed by Harold Wilson after the Labour Party's victory in the 1964 general election.