RTR,
If I may offer a small grammatical correction to your post - it was 'Wor Jackie': 'Ooer' is a phrase used by namby-pamby, soft, shandy-drinking southerners from points beyond Gatesheed.
I agree with the rest of your post though.
At the time of his alleged flight to a sunny place , I would guess the biggest thing flying out of Woolsington would have been the Ambassadors of BKS -- does that mean Bliar the Visionary can also claim that he thought of ETOPS long before anyone else?