Good job Mental. Perhaps it may have come across as a little selfish but the simple fact remains this man stood up to the PM when no-one else appears to be doing so. We are losing a major part of our defence capability for a decade and this came, not out of a true defence review, but from a crazed round of defence cuts. Op missions have been flown from the carrier in the Balkans, Iraq, Sierra Leone in the last 2 decades by both RN and RAF Harriers proving the value of the carrier. The Harrier was also put to great use in Kandahar when the runway was too damaged for any other jet was able to fly from it. I was there when an A10 diverted in and was stuck for a week as there was not enough runway for him to get out yet the Harrier continued to operate with full bomb loads using its VSTOL capabilities. He eventually got out on minimum fuel. In fact the runway was not suitable for other fighter types for approx 2 years while it was being rebuilt. Able to operate from the sea and from short strips and field sites, surely this kind of flexibility is required at a time when the World is an uncertain place and there is not much cash around. The Harrier can do a whole range of jobs other jets cannot. We will now have to rely upon the US to come to our aid should anything need sorting in our sphere of influence when host nation support is not available. Oh and we have already had to rely on the yanks for the other crazed decision to get rid of our MPA capability. This is the thin end of the wedge, in 5 years, the government will probably just sell off the carriers anyway.
Before this cost cutting exercise we had already endured years and years of under investment and poor procurement. Much of the latter is due to politicians influencing what we can buy and also introducing crazy rules about who can sell to defence. If you really want agility, buy off the shelf and spend real money on developing hard contracts which do not allow wiggle room which results in delivery late and over budget.