WEBF- I appreciate your commitment to the Carriers - you are after all the OP on this thread.
It's not that its carriers bad, other ships good - it's that the UK navy has invested a great deal of money and men into two ships which are very high value assets which require protection and thus cause a double whammy when what the RN is crying out for is more vessels in more places. When resources are limited something has to give and in the RN case this is the number of deployable vessels- I (and a lot of other people) believe the money would have been better spent on more T45's, more Astutes, not selling off so many platforms, actually upgrading the fit on the T45's as planned, and ordering more T26's & 31's. These vessels give us flexibility now and where it is needed - the carriers are a major distraction and their purchase has opened the door to people like Cummings who will do serious damage to the whole armed forces IMHO.
I don't expect you to agree.