I'll just mention that Skylon is the spaceplane and is not some kind of Concorde replacement. Reaction Engines are interested in space access, not flying in the atmosphere. The Lapcat aircraft was studied because the EU were prepared to pay for the study but it's not what RE are interested in.
If we really believe we should give up because everything's going to be stolen then we might as well all go home and quietly gas ourselves. Since we don't intend to do that, we might as well make an effort and invest.
60 million will pay for a lot of technology to be developed of which much could have application in the here and now. They already have a precision manufacturing company (
Brite Precision) for example which already puts their developed ability to use for other purposes. A government investment will help them with acquiring private finance too.
As Rolls-Royce etc are benefiting from the great investments of the past such as the RB211, it might be said that one can't afford not to make investments from time to time.
SpaceX etc have done well but they haven't actually delivered reusability yet. In any case the RE claim, accept it or not, is that the market can't grow without cheaper access to space and that providing that access will fuel the demand.