Trying to look at this issue without being too emotive we should be asking how much Value For Money we get from the Merlin.
To my SKASaC eye the Merlin programme has cost the tax payer £4bn (cradle to grave) the last I heard. Some would say this is about £100m each airframe, others would say this is about £500m per serviceable airframe (I too have heared that the spares can only support 8 a/c). But who cares how much each flying Merlin costs if it can defend the Crown against the modern threat - like nuclear subs !!!!
Now the SKASaC's new capabilities are another story entirely ... and we get no funding whatsoever - which is why our radio fit is from the cold-war. To make us even more useful to the Marines and the Army (i.e. allow us to communicate with them) would cost about £2m - for the entire SKASaC fleet.