"It remains incongruous to say the least, that the RN is copping flak because the premier RAF base in the Med has been left unhardened and undefended while our most expensive tacair assets are deployed there."
I agree - but it seems to have come as vast surprise to Politicians and media that we don't have enough escorts (or ships of any sort TBH) and that many of the ones we have are in extended maintenance. Blaming the Navy is hard - these are the results of decisions taken long long ago and endorsed and supported by every Govt for 35 years.