Investment in.../retention of... high tech aviation jobs have a political price; in today's world everything can be calculated and weighed up against other jobs or investment opportunities.
If the Govt calculates that it comes to £1m/job, compared to £10,000 in the Services, or £1,000 in the Health Service, then at least we can all see what is worth the money.
My suspicion is that a saved Airbus job in this scenario will come at too high a multiple over other industry jobs.
Enders can't bluff, with shortfunding A400M at €100M every month.