Yes an awful lot of rumours and yes probably also some softening up so that the real thing seems less bad when it happens. All I would say is that politically and presentationally, cutting frigate numbers would be very difficult for HMG given all the recent puff about "the growing navy" and I'd be surprised if Johnson didn't veto the idea. It will certainly have been an option considered, and therefore available for leaking in the traditional way, but possibly no more than that. I guess they could just about spin it as a temporary short term dip in the context of longer term growth but I really can't see that appealing to the PM. But then who knows, we'll just have to wait and see,