Originally Posted by BBC
The government has abandoned plans to privatise its defence procurement body after only one bidder was left in contention for the contract.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said there was no longer a "competitive process" and the risks of continuing were "too great to be acceptable".
Labour described the decision as an "embarrassing U-turn".
The Bristol-based Defence Equipment and Support Agency has an annual budget of £14bn.
It buys equipment, including ships, aircraft and weapons for the armed forces.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) had been considering replacing the agency with a "government-owned, contractor-operated" (GoCo) body.
But two of three consortiums interested in the contract withdrew.