Douglas Carswell's Blog

The cost of taking defence contractors at face value?

The Treasury has published a letter from BAE System to the Prime Minister regarding the aircraft carriers. 

You remember, the ones we'll have to build without aircraft to put on them?

Unsurprisingly, BAE says it'll cost £ zillions not to proceed with the project. 

The key question is what advice did ministers seek to challenge the analysis that was being put to them by BAE.  Given the enormous consequences of this decision, I hope someone somewhere in Whitehall did a least a little basic due diligence beyond this one letter. 

Please, please don't let it be the case that we decided to proceed with the carriers solely on the basis of BAE's say so.  Or the advice of those MoD officials whose careers hinge on it going ahead ....

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