Folly of defence cuts

sir – The Government’s first duty must be to ensure the defence of the realm. Cuts to our military capability have been deliberate, cynical and staggeringly stupid. Scarcely any MPS have military experience or awareness of the supreme urgency of this issue. Military bases stand empty and dilapidated while equipment and the trained personnel required to use it no longer exist.

What is ludicrous and shameful is that the recent statement of the obvious has come from a US general instead of the British Defence Secretary (report, January 31).

John Pritchard Ingatestone, Essex