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back to article Blighty: We spent £1bn on Galileo and all we got was this lousy T-shirt

There were heated exchanges at Parliament's Defence and European Scrutiny Committee this week as members attempted to get the Minister for Defence Procurement, Stuart Andrew, to put a figure on the cost of the Galileo project. Andrew did not have the number to hand, which prompted Mark Francois MP to splutter: "Oh come on, …

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    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Unhappy

      " I think there's a good chance the madness will come to an abrupt end. "

      You wish.

      If the Conservative party is viewed as the cause of this chaos (as in fact it was) this might make them unelectable for a generation.

      I think that's about the best anyone can hope for at this stage.

      6 3 Reply
      1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: " I think there's a good chance the madness will come to an abrupt end. "

        Conservative party is viewed as the cause of this chaos (as in fact it was) this might make them unelectable

        And my private opinion is that quite a few moderate Conservatives and Labour types will end up either forming a new centrist party or joining the Lib Dems.

        1 0 Reply
  2. Cliff Thorburn

    The truth as always is stranger than fiction, perhaps the next PM could strapline -

    MEGA!

    Make England Great Again!

    2 0 Reply
    1. heyrick Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Make England Great Again!

      And Wales? And Scotland? And Northern Ireland? Two of which, I should add, democratically voted to stay IN the EU.

      Britain is more than just England, FFS.

      5 1 Reply
  3. technoise

    PRS access

    PRS access - the high precision encrypted channel, which is presumably what the angst is all about, is apparently under consideration for the US and Norway, and the EU has apparently made provisions for non EU nations to be permitted access,

    https://spacenews.com/u-s-norwegian-paths-to-encrypted-galileo-service-open-in-2016/

    http://insidegnss.com/delay-continues-for-effort-to-add-galileo-signal-to-u-s-military-receivers/

    1 0 Reply
    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: PRS access

      Norway is needed for Galileo to work at high latitudes - its only technical advantage over GPS.

      If Norway takes its ball (or its ground stations) and goes home - Galileo's military signal doesn't work for that bit of the world where all the Russian boats and planes come from.

      The UK doesn't have quite the same bargaining power

      7 2 Reply
      1. Roland6 Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: PRS access

        re: Norway

        However, Norway's role is to host facilities.

        Likewise other non-EU states have access (to PRS signals)

        The UK is wanting to not only have access - solvable, but also continue being an insider on the development of the PRS service ie. Norway, USA get to use the blackbox, the UK wants to build the blackbox and thus be privy to all its inner-workings.

        6 0 Reply
  4. doug_bostrom

    "Sir William Cash piled in, suggesting that the UK could simply knock the Galileo £1bn off the eventual divorce bill."

    Yes, and next time we change our minds in the middle of remodeling our home and want the old look back, we'll complain bitterly when it turns out we're still on the hook for commitments made to contractors, and them even spitefully refusing to put it all back together for free.

    13 0 Reply
    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      ""Sir William Cash piled in, suggesting that the UK could simply knock the Galileo £1bn off"

      We don't call him "Dirty" for nothing.

      Money talks.

      1 2 Reply
  5. Dacarlo
    Boffin

    Plans within plans?

    Could it be Maybot knows that parliament will vote the evil plan down and force a peoples vote?

    2 0 Reply
    1. Teiwaz
      Reply Icon

      Re: Plans within plans?

      Could it be Maybot knows that parliament will vote the evil plan down and force a peoples vote?

      What? Have you forgotten she fought tooth and nail to keep even Parliament out of any further say from just after taking top office after the referendum?

      I think she believes she's another Thatcher. If Parliament reject it, she's most likely finished.

      The UK is not the likes of Switzerland or Ireland, such plebiscites are few and far between in the Uk. Which goes a long way to explain how badly handled the last one was.

      10 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Plans within plans?

      Could it be Maybot knows that parliament will vote the evil plan down and force a peoples vote?

      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Or the deal will be voted down, someone will go to the EU and discover to their surprise that the only changes will be EU countries getting more of their wish list because they feel that the UK got away with too much, and, if they can, then passing the EU approved deal.

      Various EU countries aren't really any happier than the assorted UK factions... they are just better at being willing to compromise to see if a deal can be reached... but I think they have been pushed as far as they can be and they are tired of making concessions.

      0 2 Reply
  6. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    Totally worth it.

    0 0 Reply
  7. Cynical Pie

    Ahhhh but Blue Passports and all that...

    3 1 Reply
  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What a bunch of whiny spineless remoaners

    I've learned a lot about remoaners, they appear to have no back bone, are afraid of not being 'in a group', maybe because that way they feel safe, are quite OK being *ucked up the a**, as long as they can still be in the club. Either that or the EU is a nice little earner for them & fuck everybody else.

    For fuck sake, have a bit of respect for yourself.

    Being a remoaner appears to be much like voting labour, those that do vote labour make a load of noise about it, while those that don't vote labour say nothing.. And guess what, to the surprise of labour voters the conservatives got in.

    4 15 Reply
    1. confused and dazed
      Reply Icon

      Re: What a bunch of whiny spineless remoaners

      "remoaner" - I see what you did there .... very clever ... ho ho

      2 0 Reply
    2. Roo
      Reply Icon
      Windows

      Re: What a bunch of whiny spineless remoaners

      "I've learned a lot about remoaners"

      There is no such thing as a remoaner, you have learnt nothing beyond parroting claptrap and primary school level abuse of folks who pay the bills.

      8 2 Reply
    3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Unhappy

      "I've learned a lot about remoaners, they appear to have no back bone, "

      Says the gutless Ahole who can't put their name on a post.

      Grown up talking.

      Run along and play with the other kiddies till you can learn to think for yourself.

      3 2 Reply
  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    no EU GPS?

    then we won't be allowed to work with EU forces, and that'll be a mirror of the way NATO works.

    0 0 Reply
  10. SNAFUology
    Meh

    Divorce problems

    Neither party admits to having the clap or giving it to the other, and both want the dog, even though they only ever walked it the first time when they got it, then both were too busy and got their neighbor to do it, although it did cost them a lot to purchase.

    Seems the UK-EU prenups weren't in place or sufficient to sort this out post divorce. {sigh}

    Know for next time then, hmm.

    1 0 Reply
  11. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Happy

    They say you learn nothing good reading comments on the BBC News website

    But I just learned a new word.

    "Kwitter"

    That sounds an admirable description of the people who want Brexit.

    They want to give up on the EU and they want to tell you about it. A lot.

    Kwitter sounds about right for most of them.

    0 2 Reply
  12. jelabarre59

    Send the bill

    So if the EU wants to lock you out of the system, perhaps you should make them bay you back for all your investment into the system. Then turn around and make a deal with the US, using that money just to spite the EU.

    1 3 Reply
  13. Paul 195
    FAIL

    Don't worry

    Brexit looks increasingly unlikely as there is no deal imaginable that will get through the house of commons, and none of the politicians saying that "no deal is better than a bad deal" actually have the balls to do it. They are quite keen on someone else doing it, but Boris and Gove would never do it. JRM might just, but he's a few nannies short of the full Norland's College to be honest.

    2 0 Reply
  14. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Thumb Up

    "a few nannies short of the full Norland's College to be honest."

    Superb

    1 1 Reply

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