This indefensible military spending ignores the real threats to humanity | Letters

Readers on the government's announcements of a 16.5bn surge in defence spending' and 12bn for a green industrial revolution'

Your editorial (The Guardian view on Johnson's green jobs plan: the right way to start, 18 November) says much of the government's headline-grabbing pledge of 12bn for its green industrial revolution" is spending that has already been announced. This is typical of the Tory political chicanery that the country has become accustomed to since 2010.

But it beggars belief that at the same time - days before the spending review, when Rishi Sunak will almost certainly warn of impending austerity measures - the prime minister has agreed to a 16.5bn surge in defence spending" (Boris Johnson agrees 16bn rise in defence spending, 18 November). It is true that, as Boris Johnson says, the defence of the realm must come first", but by equating defence" with increased military spending, he reveals the limitations of his political understanding.