Editing Neville Chamberlain (section)

===Defence spending===
Defence spending had been heavily cut in Chamberlain's early budgets.{{sfn|Macklin|2006|p=36}} By 1935, faced with [[German rearmament|a resurgent Germany]] under Hitler's leadership, he was convinced of the need for rearmament.{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=18}} Chamberlain especially urged the strengthening of the [[Royal Air Force]], realising that Britain's historical bulwark, the [[English Channel]], was no defence against air power.{{sfn|Macklin|2006|pp=36–42}}

In 1935, MacDonald stood down as prime minister, and Baldwin became prime minister for the third time.{{sfn|Smart|2010|pp=199–200}} In the [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935 general election]], the Conservative-dominated National Government lost 90&nbsp;seats from its massive 1931 majority, but still retained an overwhelming majority of 255 in the House of Commons. During the campaign, deputy Labour leader [[Arthur Greenwood]] had attacked Chamberlain for spending money on rearmament, saying that the rearmament policy was "the merest scaremongering; disgraceful in a statesman of Mr Chamberlain's responsible position, to suggest that more millions of money needed to be spent on armaments."{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=40}}