Boffin
The point is not much each accounting line item has it in it - the carriers may well be "funded" right now but when the whole edifice is running out of cash do you really think the MoD are going to leave them untouched?
It's not all (or even mainly) the carriers that are to blame - Typhoon is a much bigger item and Successor/Dreadnought looks like another horrible black hole going to happen.
Trouble is those two programmes are deemed essential whereas the carriers have always been seen as a nice-to-have. Even many in the RN are expressing dismay at the loss of other capabilities and are (rightly or wrongly) pointing the finger at the carriers.
If we were willing to spend 3-3.5% of the budget on defence we could do it and I 'd be happy that we had the additional capability they bring - but if we don't or won't cough up the extra $$$ I have real worries about cutting even further into well-established and core competences to provide for them