Operation ROBOT was an economic policy devised by HM Treasury in 1952 under Chancellor of the Exchequer R. A. Butler but which was never implemented.
R. A. Butler, the Chancellor, advocated floating the exchange rate and allowing sterling to find its own level and to be convertible.
Butler acknowledged that his proposals would end the Keynesian full employment policies of the previous twelve years but claimed that the burden would fall not on Britain's precarious gold reserves but on the exchange rate.
Clarke claimed that a free exchange rate would be 'painful' but would impose severe discipline upon British industry because of its exposure to the world markets.
The most prominent of those who urged for its rejection were a Treasury under-secretary, E. R. Coplestone, and Lord Cherwell, the Paymaster General.