I seem to remember from my history lessons that there was an almighty clamour in the 1920s and 30s to do away with Fighters. Luckily, thanks to the vision of some people in the right places, we were able to secure enough Spitfires and Hurricanes to stop the tyranny of fascism from completely taking over Europe, arguably ensuring its eventual defeat (any fish-heads who have major objections please retire to your cabins and spin dits about how it was you who really won the Battle of Britain, doesn't hold any water with me). I believe that that was one of our country's (and I'm not forgetting the contribution and sacrifice of the foreign crews) greatest contributions to humanity.
We must learn from the mistake our forefathers so nearly made back then, and retain a balance of forces. Who knows who we could be in conflict with next and forces we would require for such a thing? To argue that we will only go to war in a coalition is also folly - I'm sure many people thought the same thing in the early months of 1982.