HH:-
they think they can extend the time frame for some (possible) dreadful accident out beyond their time in service/retirement from the Civil Service/next election
In other words exactly the same mind set that triggered these three decades of needless waste of both life and materiel. Your summary perfectly illustrates why Air Safety is not safe in MOD hands and has to be removed from them forthwith.
If this a/c goes into squadron service without an RTS that signifies it to be airworthy, where does that leave the MAA as presently constituted? What is the point of the MAA as presently constituted?