So would this new centre of excellence be the same centre of excellence that trashed the Tornados in the early 90s???
http://www.parliament.the-stationery.../1129/1129.pdf
Makes interesting reading, gives an indication of what exactly other than fresh air was going through their minds during the decision making process. Was interesting to see that Members of the Welsh Assembly argued that St Athan would be good because it had a drive to work population of 600,000 within 45 mins and an academic & trg infrastructure to support the development. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but I reckon Cosford has the potential for a far greater sub-45min drive to work population than St Athan (I think Bham has a population > 1million and the West Midlands conurbation > 2 million).
And as for the academic & trg facilities near to Athan: in addition to those already at Cosford, there are universities at Bham, Aston, Wolves, Coventry, Stafford, Keele - all near by. And in the proposal, I don't see any mention of Cardiff based educational establishments getting involved in supporting the development.
But as it also clearly states in the report, Wales provides 9% of all MOD recruiting, but gets only 6% of MOD funding (cracking logic here).
1. Maybe that's because Wales doesn't have many bases / facilities there that it only gets 6% of the funding.
2. If you build at St Athan, does that mean that all those 9% will go there?
3. So what if Wales provides 9% of all recruits?! That just means that 91% come from elsewhere - why not put it somewhere else.
Looks like another Noo Labour smoke & mirrors job!
Oh well, if nothing else, at least that's one Labour MP guaranteed to keep hold of his seat at the next election.