Fair enough WWW,
You're right, I don't know all the technical ins and outs, but then neither does Joe Public and they think that Branson should have been given a go. I would say however, that Airbus are the 'manufacturer' for historical reasons. If there had been any political will from either the French or British Gov'ts, then I don't see why the problems could not have been surmounted. They're not as big as designing the thing in the first place after all.
Concorde is a fantastic symbol of the best of British (and maybe some French
) engineering around the world, so should it have qualified for some sort of Govt subsidy for either BA or Virgin? I think yes.