The amount the UK spends on defence can't be justified – so we rely on piffle | Simon Jenkins

Vague concepts like ‘punching above our weight’ trump ‘value for money’ at the MoD. In fact this is money largely wasted

Toughen the sinews, gird up the loins. Tomorrow arrives another defence review heralded by what Boris Johnson would once have called a piffle fest. This is a concoction of abstract nouns and cliches drawn from Downing Street’s tired Archie Rice self-image as a “player on the world stage”.’ Johnson says he wants to be “match fit” against competitors, a “force for good” and a “gl...