it certainly puts the question marks over the efficiency of our Ministry of Defence and governance in general
That's more or less where my line of thought was going.
I'm sure I'm going to get crucified for saying this, but it seems to me that with a fairly certain immediate future of military security , and a very certain present of severe economic strife, cutting armed forces is not, in principle, a completely indefensible option. It is also not in principle indefensible for public money to sponsor job-creation schemes. But if they're going to do either of those things, they should do it straightforwardly. The alternative is mixed messages - are the carriers being built to provide carriers, or to employ shipbuilders - and my impression is that it leads to massive inefficiency.
Cuts are worrying, but I'd like to know that at least we were getting value for money from what's left.
P