Typhoon is needed, just not 232 of them at the expense of other core capabilities
We need FJs, and lots of them - a 12-13 squadron FJ force isn't big enough to do another Granby, even, and can't really sustain today's more modest enduring commitments.
The lefties, do-gooders, tree-huggers and general all round pains in the arse point to the NHS needing funding etc. Well you could spend the entire GNP / GDP on the NHS and guess what, yep, the death rate would still be 100%. Meanwhile, whilst they are whinging about the money being spend on Trident, Nimrod, Typhoon etc, how many billions are they wasting on that white elephant of an NHS IT system that is even worse than JPA which could fill a really big part of our current defence black hole.
No, what we really need is some decent funding for once instead of what we get. I think you'll find given the correct levels of funding for our current operational requirements, we need all the FJ we can get our hands on, we need more AT and SH than you can shake a stick at, we need a credible forward leaning integrated ISTAR plan and for f's sake, buy those bloody tankers! In short, we need it all, not just a few bits and pieces here and there. There are days when I feel like Oliver going up to the head table saying 'please sir, can I have some more?'
I wonder what the lefties, do gooders and pains in the arse would say if we decided we were going to have a capability holiday in cancer care, or if the fire service were going to have a capability holiday in putting out fires in tower blocks or that the immigration services were going to have a break from protecting our borders .... on second thoughts, they already have, but you get the idea. They wouldn't put up with it. There'd be an outcry. There'd be tofu flying everywhere, comfy shoes would be hurled at Whitehall in disgust and Swampy would no doubt be back up the nearest tree in protest. So why are the public so short sighted that the cannot see that defence, like the police, the fire & ambulance services, the NHS are all there to serve the country and its people in times of need.