have read that sentence several times, juggled the punctuation and tried to second guess any typos and still can't make sense of it. I suppose if you write a sentence of sufficient length, it can mean anything you want.
Its pretty clear although admittedly, not crystal clear. It means (IMO);
the Government concluded that, amongst other decisions, the Nimrod MRA4 would not be brought into service, owing to the military tasks to which it was designed to contribute
.......... the task it may be able to do should it ever enter service are either able to be done in a more cost effective way, or do are not a high enough priority to warrant the cancellation of something else.
the amount of public money that had been spent on it,
Debated enough ....... historically a money pit and not using gamblers logic to finish it "honest guv, if I can just spend a little more it will all be finished"
and the impact of such a decision on the people who have dedicated their careers to delivering this capability
...... too few crew/pilots/groundstaff affected compared to the removal of another platform i.e. its too niche.
or who depend on it for their livelihoods.
...... and consequently less families and businesses depend upon its existence for their livelihood.
At least thats how I read it - a slam dunk decision compared with the cancellation of Tornado for example.
If MRA4 were not cancelled, and the RAF had to give up assets to save the equivalent monies, what would people cancel instead ?