After three years of hosting BAE Systems’ annual meeting, chairman Dick Olver, has got into the swing of batting back questions from pesky shareholders concerned about the defence contractor’s ethics or simply ignoring the outcries of “liar” which have become a norm.

Wednesday’s meeting was a somewhat more subdued affair than has been the case in past years – even the group of anti-BAE protesters outside seemed rather small by historic standards – but despite being hampered by a heavy cold, Mr Olver was still at battle stations.