TheEye has been promised a Guest Article from the undeniably top bloke who blogs as St Crispin’s Day on this very subject of our new aircraft-carriers so has steered clear of a personal rant on the issue. If this had not been offered then a furious diatribe would have been posted long before now.

However, as we still sail in the calmer waters before the St Crispin’s Day storm, this humble blog offers the words of a certain Ivan K Rowland who has submitted these most excellent thoughts to The Times.

Sir, Two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers were announced by the Labour Government in mid-1998. At about that same time, Cunard announced its plans to build the Queen Mary 2. Since then, the QM2 has been delivered, on time and to budget, and now has five years’ active service behind her. The aircraft carriers have not even left the drawing board yet and have already notched up expenses equal to the entire cost of the QM2. Perhaps the Admiralty and the Ministry of Defence should engage with the Carnival Corporation (Cunard’s parent company) on how to design and construct ships to time, on budget, and without excessive cost overruns.

TheEye cannot question the logic at all.