I disagree that the MOD can't afford to keep Lyneham open - it can't afford to close it. The savings are all long term with a break even point in 2025 by which time things may have changed again & those savings never realised. How can a bankrupt RAF afford the £180 million cost of closure & moving to Brize? And as for the £10 million to return the site 'to the people' - when the RAF 'gave' Abingdon to the army in the 90s it cost £80 million to prepare the site for them.
The closure should be put on hold, & for no other reason than it's unaffordable at the moment.