The Nimrod fiasco is the result of a series of bad decisions made over a number of years by the MOD, RAF?, Labour and Conservative governments and BAE.
Was it the right decision to rebuild a 40 year old aircraft based on an aircraft designed in the 1940s? - no
Did BAE make promises on the time scale, costs etc. which could not be fulfilled? - yes
Were the Labour party / MOD right to believe BAE when they signed a contract to build these aircraft? - no
Were the Labour party wrong in reducing the order from 21 to 9 aircraft making the project even less cost effective - yes
Was the Conservative party wrong to allow Britain to lose such a vital asset and cancel the aircraft just before they were to enter service - yes.
Was scrapping the aircraft so quickly for £200m a mistake - yes
I'm only an armchair expert who never supported the Nimrod re-build who thought it was madness to build aircraft with absolutely no chance of been exported when a MPA based on the A320? would have been a better proposal but the Nimrod is better than nothing.
The people who I feel are the biggest losers are the people who have lost their jobs because of so many people in Government and BAE management letting them down.
