"What is the Seedcorn project about (and been funded for) if it's not about providing a nucleus with which to rebuild an RAF-led long range ASW fleet? Indeed, many of them are already operating P8s!"
It should be about providing a nucleus with which to rebuild a UK long range ASW fleet. Who should operate it should be looked at carefully without historical preconceptions and tribal empire building. To me, as a neutral onlooker, it seems logical that it should be RN led, as in the rest of the world's armed forces.