On the other hand the question of why "we" need one isn't so clear. "We" don't have one at the moment, we rely on an American one. And aircraft, ship and vehicle sat navs still work. It doesn't seem that we will have a problem using the European one for these purposes either. What "we" may not have access to is "scrambled signals". Does anybody know of anything apart from military use which requires scrambled signals? If its just so that the military can use it to target some more brown-skinned people, then I for one would rather we didn't have it.

What is true is that British firms won't get Galileo contracts. But with the rapid brain drain of highly qualified technical staff relocating to Europe and elsewhere, British companies are unlikely to be in a position to even bid.