Owen Jones has introduced a healthy scepticism into the debate about defence spending (Keir Starmer, you claim huge and damaging cuts are vital so we can buy arms and defend ourselves. Prove it, 5 March).
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the European members of Nato have, collectively, significantly outspent Russia for years. In 2021, European members of Nato plus Canada spent more than four times the amount on their armed forces than Russia did. Even in 2023, when Russian expenditure had ballooned due to the war in Ukraine, these countries still spent nearly three times as much as the Russians. So could we have an explanation of where this money is going and why it is not enough?
Richard Henderson
Bristol
