Flightless Parrot: I completely agree with you that a few politicians did speak up, which is why I wrote "virtually any" P.M. or M.P. ! Tony Benn of course was a huge champion of Concorde, and even Michael "Tarzan" Heseltine made a valiant stand against Thatcher's determination to side with USA in the Westland Helicopters scandal; the Cabinet Secretary was even caught lying to improve the case for Americanising!
Interesting that France used its experience with Concorde to propel its aviation industry to global importance, while in UK it was another part of our decline.
Interesting too that our rocketry programme was cancelled the day after Prospero was launched (still orbiting!). The reason given in Parliament was "Cost" but little doubt that it was seen as a rival to USA's space programme and was not popular with them. Unusually, instead of being broken up or sent across the Atlantic, everything was passed over to France and gradually developed into Ariane, the most efficient and profitable launch system!
I highly recommend Francis Spufford's most excellent book "Backroom Boys, The Secret Return of the British Boffin". It does show that British Boffinry still survives despite the best efforts of British Government, Bankers, Management and Bureacracy to make us a nation of pen pushers and form fillers!