In hindsight, have they been proven correct though?
Could the Harrier Force (down to less than 60 airframes and two front line Squadrons) have been able to carry out operations in Libya and Afghanistan at the same time? Maritime currency had been lost whilst the HF was committed to Afghanistan and was only just being regained. The Tornado had already taken over the Herrick deployment.
Realistically, how many Harriers could you have deployed to a carrier off Libya? There were 16 Tornados deployed to Italy, as well as operations from the UK . Neither Harrier nor Typhoon could carry Storm Shadow at that time, so the stand off strikes would have been impossible, same for Brimstone.
How many times in the last 8 years have we been unable to do something because of a lack of ship board fast jet capability?
Harrier would have been a useful additional capability, but if they had to axe one type, I think they made the right decision. Maybe it was a gamble, but in this case I think they got lucky.