Last month we had a week of what looked like military PR to scare the British public into giving it more power and money (Army chief says people of UK are ‘prewar generation’ who must be ready to fight Russia, 24 January). The tired old cliches about 1914 and the “gathering storm” of the 1930s were rolled out once again so that the military could demand still more, after major increases since 2019. Humiliating defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan has not inhibited the military’s belligerent attitude towards Libya, Syria, Russia, the Palestinians and China. But the military elite have made military service so unattractive, partly because of their shameful treatment of veterans, that they now want to force young people into service. Last month we also had the US navy secretary “advising” the nation’s ally to increase military expenditure (UK should consider raising defence spending, says US navy secretary, 25 January) – when we’re among the top military spenders in the world and the highest in western Europe, all in the midst of a cost of living crisis. When you’ve got a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Dr Paul Dixon University of Leicester