A good start would be to avoid knee jerk reactions and get aviation experts in to do the job. There IS and always was a need to do things more efficiently. Small (too small) steps had already been taken in the bulk(ish) buy of aircraft recently. Centralising pilotage and engineering would help as well, with many different companies providing the services.
There is no doubt that some areas had more coverage than others, however instead of looking at 'total' geographical coverage, you should assess DEMAND; The busiest areas seem to be the ones sacrificing services.
Ultimately, this alone would not be enough and the network would have to lose some capability. However, they should once again look at DEMAND and risk manage. Circles on maps do not account for historical areas of bad weather. Example, North Wales will not be able to do a straight line for Caernarfon at night/in winter for the majority of the year! The circles say they can!! Substitute that for other areas.
Also, Merseyside will bleed the surrounding services with their high demand. If the ac is over Liverpool, what happens if a job comes in from say, east manchester? What I am trying to say is that these circles show where ONE aircraft can go from a standing start. If it is 20 minutes south and a new job comes in 20 minutes North................
I don't believe that anyone here does not accept that cuts are going to happen. They just want to make sure it is done properly.