Firstly the reporter travelled to the US as a guest of LM, which has to make you wonder.
Secondly, as I posted before UK is looking at the STOVL 35 B, not the Australian or Canadian version. Even people who really like F35 admit that the STOVL B version is going to cost a fair bit more than the A or C versions.
If what I read is correct the STOVL B version also has a much shorter range and can carry only half the payload of the A and C versions.