Reminds me of the line about "it's so confused around here that people are stabbing one another in the chest".
Going to cat/arrest for the carriers has some interesting implications.
For the JSF program, it leaves the Marines standing alone with Dave-B, which is not a happy program right now, because of technical difficulties and delays, because of doubts as to the feasibility and utility of forward basing, and because in the emerging concept of "from the sea" operations, STOVLs on amphibs are only a marginal improvement to the force.
Dave-C, on the other hand, is currently trailing behind the other two versions: CF-2 and 3 won't even fly until next year. Given the delays involved in converting the carriers, the UK doesn't have to order jets until 2015 or later... but the USN won't close out the Super Hornet line until Dave-C is proven solid, so that could remain a contender. (What if the RN leased some SHs, and flew off land and US carriers to retain skills?)
Meanwhile, the reference to "cheaper" is interesting since the story always used to be that the B and C would cost about the same. So cheaper means Super Hornet, or that the projected cost of the B has gone way up, or that the C has become cheaper, and if you think the last is a serious contender you probably think Barney is a real dinosaur.
Further complicating the issue is that the RAF wants F-35 for deep strike, because of its LO qualities, and I suspect would be underwhelmed even by the Ultra Hornet.