This line of argument misses the point entirely. The training pipeline was shrunk because the number of cockpits they were feeding had reduced. It couldn't have been reduced before the (relatively) sudden announcement of the loss/reduction in Harrier, Nimrod and GR4 numbers, because if those cuts had not been taken, then we would have been short of pilots. Earlier reductions would have presumed the SofS's decision (a big no-no).
To graduate all of those in the pipeline would have resulted in 170 extra pilots kicking around with nothing to do, but all needing to be paid, costing around £6M per year. Alternatively, we would have had to sack 170 more senior aircrew who already have their wings. This would have been far more expensive, and could be viewed as unfair on people who had already given valuable service.
In other words, it has sweet FA to do with how many extra hours were required to get each trainee to wings standard!