It doesn't stop there. Cammell, part of a Danish consortium, lost out and then saw MoD orders for four landing ships given to BAE Marine's Govan yard and Swan Hunter. The former happens to be in a constituency liable to a Scottish National Party swing, the latter in one held by Stephen Byers, the industry secretary. Beset by continuing doubts over the level of state aid for its Luxus contract, Cammell says it has been forced to live in an environment of reduced customer confidence and employee morale leading to less work at tighter margins and, ultimately, to calling in the receivers. The board cannot escape blame for either mismanaging the bidding process or raising false hopes among the workforce but one inescapable conclusion is that ministers are floundering around.
Policy appears to be driven by the weight of opinion of MPs and companies.
The other, niche players such as Cammell, Swans, Harland and even Vosper, are expendable even if they can call on their own, smaller lobbies. The election campaign won't answer these questions. Nor, on past performance, will its aftermath.