Jacko.
To paraphrase.
No-one would diminish the contribution made by UK Air Defence in the second world war. In Afghanistan and modern Europe, the utility of Air Defence aircraft is, shall we say, rather less clear.
You say:
"As has been pointed out again and again, you have to go back to 1982 to find an occasion when carriers were essential rather than merely nice to have."
Just remind me when the last time landbased air defence was essential? A lot lot longer ago than 1982, yet still we buy vast hordes of Typhoon.
"The F3 force does a useful job"
Justify that statement.
It has never done a single task that others could not have done if it were unavailable. It has never shot down anything. Ever. By your reasoning, it has been the biggest white elephant in history.
Unlike you, however, I would not want it to have been binned. Some capabilities are neccessary to have, because when you need them, you really need them. I, cannot think of any realistic situation where this country needs air defence outside of QRA during the next 10yrs by which time the Typhoon will be happily up and running.
I agree the money saving will be piddling, but so will the risk.