NO SURPRISE really (Letters March 14) but the absurdity is our government along with US policy supporting al Queida in Syria and fighting them in Afghanistan, now the plan is to starve councils of funds hoping they can shift the blame for the cuts this causes. Austerity is not an economic necessity, it is a political choice – there is money for flood defences, for hospitals, for decent pay, for pensioners, free child care, and schools, it’s just that the present government chooses not to spend it on the things millions of ordinary people need. There’s £50 billion for a high speed rail to get passengers to wherever 20 minutes earlier. No wonder the PMs gaff that “money is no object” and “we are a rich country” was quickly retracted, laughable if it wasn’t so serious.

Terence King Pontnewydd Cwmbran