I think some people aren't aware that Airbus is no longer a consortium of worksharing companies but a single, unitary co.
"The UK was apparently forced to pony up the cash..."
In the sense that without it no-one would get any manufacturing because the thing wouldn't have happened.
"In addition, the city of Hamburg is spending
some 750 million euro to lengthen the runway
and expand the facilities for Airbus at the EADS Hamburg-Finkenwerder
airport to accommodate the expansion of EADS Airbus assembly there,including
that of the A380. French national and local authorities plan to provide 46
million euro($45.8 million) in aid for road expansion and facility
construction for Airbus in Toulouse."
Waahhh!! Waaahh! Those dastardly European governments build roads! Unlike US Federal highways....paid for, of course, solely by....errrrrrr - the federal government! Clue in the name! Does anyone perhaps recall the US Defence Plants Agency? And what chance do you think that BAE or indeed anyone else have of getting the faintest sniff of the US Dept of Defence's gigantic entitlement programmes for the arms industry?
BTW, you'd have to be a pork-barreling US politician to convince yourself that having only one serious airliner manufacturer in the world would be more competitive than having two....theoretically competition increases efficiency and reduces prices, so the US economy might actually benefit from launch aid....