Thanks for that feathers
I agree the UK failed to turn most of the swords to plough shears, there were any number of reasons for this some of which you've pointed out.
One fascinating one for me is the production of a swept wing which requires massive dynamic matrix calculations that involve infinite series at the tips and root, a huge calculation. It was only with the advent of digital computers and finite element modelling that this technology could be realised in the West.
The British approach was for a 'genius' designer to come up with a drawing and then a calculation would be done. Calculations were done by hand with pencil and paper, though some analogue computers were built, you can't use them for iterative calculations because the error just gets bigger and bigger. The Soviet approach was to use large numbers of human beings to do the calcs, the US could do the same to some extent, but mathematicians were more expensive in the West. This is why the Soviets stole a lead in some areas of aircraft development in the early period of the cold war particularly in wing designs. They could simply crunch more numbers. The Soviets had also kidnapped the best Nazi rocket Scientists and so their rockets and missiles were more advanced than the West.
There are sources other than KEW, like Hansard and the on line Airade Archive at Cranfield University. My point about swords to plough shares comes from reading Hansard.
You don't think it odd then that as soon as a new technology is proved and profitable it's always taken into private hands? The development cost are never recovered fully by the taxpayer who paid for it.
BOAC and BEA are prime examples of what I'm talking about. Paid for by the Taxpayer until profitable and then handed over to private hands at bargain prices.