This is hardly a new topic. Not so long ago I was given an official brief that when the RAF looked into acquiring new AFT trainers, it did its own study and said 'we'll have the aeromacchi please. they do exactly what we need, they're available, and they're (relatively) cheap'. The Government/MOD then turned around and said no, you're going to have the Hawk 128, which is not available, and 6 times the price, from trusty BAE...
Obviously there was the deal with the Indians to consider, who agreed to buy it if we'd train their pilots with all our spare capacity. No problem there of course, only just about every abo is off to Canada to do the equivalent of 19 Sqn. I'm sure that course isn't free of charge...
So what? All this proves is that major acquisition has more political than operational concerns. That is hardly news either. One might think, however, than when considering spending such astronomical sums of money, explaining to the public (as in dealing with the political side of life) why we might be buying an Italian or Czech or Korean aircraft and not British would become important...
If the BBC is choosing to make this newsworthy now i'd assert it was a slow news week. Considering how many examples of politically motivated acquisition there are, and how much each one costs (not just cash, but morale!) it shouldn't take some MPs' comments to bring this to the fore.
I'm not confident that things are set to change, either. Does the vast majority really mind if spending tax payers' money is spent inside the country on inferior kit for the military? Probably saves a few jobs too. Infact, put it like that, most will positively prefer it.
Oh well. 'Life is Political' said Napoleon.