I can see how financial pain means we simply cannot afford the armed forces we have now, even though most people on here (at least) probably regard 'what we have now' as painfully short of what is needed.
It would be nice if somebody could persuade the government to carry out a review of their own thinking, along with the defence review...perhaps they might produce a fairly straightforward document in plain english that outlined what they themselves could commit UK forces to in the future. There's little point, in my mind, in deciding what forces we can afford if the politicians continue to expect those forces to punch above their weight having been pared to the bone.
I LIKE looking at CVs, but what's the point of a couple of carriers if you can't afford all the other ships you need to surround them with?