Money is at the root of all this and he had no control over that.
While the forces are no doubt underfunded, I think to conclude that this was a key factor in this case maybe misleading. If the IPT was aware of a safety problem, and had gone back for more money to fix it and been rebuked (as some seem to imply) - why on earth wouldn't the IPTL have said so? The IPT is pretty clear that they didn't know (but should have known) about the safety shortfall - so where does lack of money come into play here?
Compare to the Chinook 3, which has sat grounded for years over what seems to be a far more minor (perhaps only a technicality?) safety shortfall in IMC operations for the want of a few bob to correct it. In this case, no money to fix it, no flying = safety not compromised at a time when the services are crying out for more helicopters.