RAFAT won't go.
perception is reality. How will it look to Russia / China / insert other potential adversary when we admit we cant afford / justify a display team when the French / Italians etc are seemingly going strong.
I'd be willing to say most people on this forum have some sort of interest in RAFAT / military aviation-We aviators seem to think the world revolves around us and nothing else matters, hence we read into these articles as if it's the be all and end all. But guess what? The general public care more for who is doing well in Strictly, or players not wearing LGBT armbands in the World Cup. They might see an article in the daily mail about a bloke in a red suit sleeping with someone who works for him, but will then forget it a few days later when they see a cool picture of an A380 with some shiny red jets and smoke next to it flying past the Burj Khalifa.
All the residents of the Gulf states (and our politicians) care about is the solidarity and potential trade that the Reds bring. They are ultimately projectors of UK political policy across the world, and just because an aviation geek thinks disbanding them would solve the T1 problem or an ex SAC tech once missed out on his Pax trip in 1993 because red'x' fancied the pretty air trafficker he met in the bar the night before and took her flying instead will not be at the forefront of a cabinet minister's mind when he or she trying to get a trade deal with (insert obscure country) in 2024 and decides to send the reds as part of a deal sweetener.