Originally Posted by
TheSmiter
I believe that DC, apparently against the advice of his Def Sec and senior air commander, had already decided that MRA4 did not fit in with his plans for an increasingly Euro-centric vision of Defence, in particular, an Anglo-French cost saving alliance. The project budget overrun, and apparently continuing safety issues simply gave him a convenient hook on which to hang this decision. That, and the ability to attach Nimrod 'bad news' onto the previous Labour administration, made it a neat judgement for him. Nice politics, Dave.
And a desire to cancel a 'big ticket' defence project to teach a lesson to those in the MOD and BAES who they saw as profligate - the letter from BAE regarding the extra payments that would be needed to cancel one of the Carriers was apparently the last nail in the NImrod's coffin.