There has been much speculation about what Rishi Sunak’s latest financial firepower pledge for our armed forces will mean for London-listed companies. Upping the defence spending commitment from 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP is clearly important on many levels. It’s a rearguard action, in the event that Donald Trump returns to the White House, and renews threats to withdraw support for NATO if other members don’t increase military budgets. It’s a sign of the extent to which Russia is perceived as a chronic threat to Europe, and how allies needs to rally together, not just with rousing speeches, but hard and fast cash. UK-listed aerospace stocks are likely to benefit from a fresh round of investment into the UK’s armed forces. Even Compass, the catering giant, could see a tailwind of spending as it already has standalone catering contracts with the military. If more money is channelled into recruitment and succeeds in boosting the size of the forces, there will be more hungry mouths to feed on bases across the UK and overseas. But there are other vast wells of value that UK companies could tap into, when it comes to our armed forces. Veterans are among the country’s strongest...