Has anyone read history ?
It may be a case of avoiding the 'fighting the last war' syndrome, but a huge lesson in my little opinion ( and I suspect others ) is that the RAF tried hard to emasculate the Fleet Air Arm between the wars, and managed it - right up to the early stages of WWII when they suddenly found they required it badly, in a hurry.
Joint Force Harrier is an RAF driven farce, and we need RN pilots not only motivated but recruited !
The FAA is historically used to being s~~t upon then doing the business - this won't happen with some politician's magic waving a flag when something nasty hits the fan, we need trained sea-going pilots NOW, not on an occasional basis.
I and the public appreciate the effort in Afghanistan ( I've been told by someone who should know, a very large percentage of FAA air & groundcrew are there ) but we need a carrier force.
I've said it time & again ( from my armchair aged 47 but ask and I'd happily be there, like a lot of more experienced others ) - get a few Harrier 2+ and a true FAA, to perform fleet defence along with - gosh, all six - of the Type 45 destroyers, then the GR9 mud movers can do their bit without being embarassingly taken out.
Tornados & Typhoons have no part to play unless we're fighting off the Isle of Wight or a REALLY friendly country - we're relying on that, are we ? Despite in-flight refuelling.
When I see in flight re-arming and changing fatigued pilots, I'll be impressed.