Policy choices shaped Britain's postwar naval limits

How could Britain afford another capital ship after the war if the empire was bankrupt and industry badly damaged?

Britain retained more capacity in 1945-48 than the premise suggests; later industrial weakness also came from transition and postwar policy choices.

Britain could still have afforded another capital ship in 1945-48 in this assessment. Its wartime financial problems and industrial damage were less complete than the question assumes. Later weakness also reflected the transition of industries and government decisions during the 1950s and 1960s. The criticism is that governments tried to accommodate competing interests when industrial change required decisions that would disappoint some groups.