The running down of the RN is just the begining. Will you sit up and take notice when JSFis binned as there are no carriers to operate it of?
Once the harrier retires will that become a "capability holiday"? And of course as MR2 Nimrod becomes less and less servicible the argument that we don't need maritime patrol aircraft and rescue support would be better served with a Hercules of yes and of course SAR provision is now a Coastguard function so why does the RAF & RN have a SAR element at all? And of course in his civilised world we don't need air defence assets GBAD will have already gone so 4-6 Sqns of Typhoons could then disappear. And the Tornado replacement is it needed Typhoon seams to be coping OK. A400M well with the delays we've shown that the existing c130J/C17 fleet can cope so we'll cut that. The article is right the treasury and the current government see the UKDF as a source for budget cuts for money to go to more visible and politically sensitive projects.
One lesson of the Falklands hasn't been learned by the Armed forces. The reason defence planning was changed post 82 was the humiliation of the Govt by picture of British servicmen having their faces rubbed in the dirt. The only thing that will change the govt/treasury attitude to the armed forces is those same armed forces getting a good kicking infront of the worlds media.