Biggus - your points are quite correct, though there were two P-3 teams (one offering new build and the other with refurbed airframes). The fable goes that not even BAe (as it was then) thought they'd win, and the day after announcement the MAD men at Warton convened an emergency meeting to flesh out exactly how they were going to bring MRA.4 off the drawing table.
All very sad, and the SEEDCORN insurance doesn't provide for actual MPA coverage in these times, as those that have seen surface and sub-surface targets near UK shores in the past 18 months will attest.