Considering a lot of RAF personnel (quite rightly) state they did not join to serve from ships, where is the 'expertise' going to come from?
It's all very well having a group of pilots rotating on stints at sea, but you need a permanent cadre to provide support and background knowledge to those who rotate onboard.
Unless we bin the carriers, the RN must retain FJ capability.
Of course we could bin the carriers, but then, why would we need as many air assets? Why not bin the carriers and amalgamate all the forces into one pared down UK Defence Force?
We could withdraw all support for campaigns in foreign lands, retreat onto our little isalnd and save lots of money.
I'm not advocating that course of action, but getting rid of FAA FJ capability is the first step down that road.