I think most of this story is a load of rubbish to be honest. For starters, we're talking about the Mail here (enough said!).
The notion that the MoD would want to purchase Rafales has always been regarded as nonsense, and this is probably just a throw-away story based on a "what if" conversation which was intended for political consumption rather than military need. Clearly, we wouldn't want to buy an aircraft which will (by the time it entered service) be heading for obsolesence.
More importatly, we're financially almost obliged to purchase a final batch of Typhoons that we don't really need (based on the current governmental figures and thinking) so they would clearly be the most obvious source of replacements for the F35 if (or when) it is finally cancelled.
It also looks like the beloved Mail has been less-than honest about the real facts; According to other reports from previous weeks/months, the problem hasn't been anything to do with the UK being denied access to the complete F35 package, but more to do with the prospect of export orders, and America's understandable reluctance to export technology to just any potential buyer. Ultimately, it seems to be a relatively benign argument about sales to other countries which may or may not ever happen.
It would be foolish to hurl accusations at the US Government, not least because we've shared a very (and I do mean very!) close relationship
ever since WWII, and the US has never seriously attempted to supply us with "watered-down" versions of their own equipment, so there's no reason to suppose that the F35 would be any different. Conversely, France's track record is less-than commendable; When you look at the way in which the Jaguar was consistently shoved aside in favour of their Mirage sales, the Concorde saga, the way that they shamelessly tried to persuade the US Navy to buy the Alpha Jet, the completely absurd Airbus A400 saga... why would anyone want to get involved with France again?
The Mail is also a bit wide of the mark to say that the new carriers will have built-in catapult equipment, as according to proper sources of information, the carriers will merely have the ability to be converted to catapult operations if necessary - a minor point but indicative of the way in which the Mail is trying to make a story out of nothing.
It's no secret that the F35 programme has been on the proverbial rocks for a long time, and most people think it's only a matter of time before we finally rid ourselves on any involvement in it. It's a hideously expensive programme for an aircraft that we don't need, and when we will ultimately have more Typhoons that we actually require (and a "navalisation" programme has already been studied) it seems pretty obvious where our future carrier force will eventually be sourced.