WEBF
If you insist. One possible solution to the problems of the capability gap, the loss of skills, the political embarassment of destroying perfectly good aircraft, and the loss of influence over allies, was what I (and I think possibly others elsewhere) suggested here - lease/buy some AV8Bs partly in exchange for the GR9s as a spares source, and continue to offer the USMC continued Harrier embarkations aboard Illustrious/Queen Elizabeth.
Or continue embarking foreign Harriers for practising skills, and marinise more Apaches, although I remember hearing many saying that Apache would be very hard to marinise properly. I suspect that the Army would not be too keen on this idea either. Maybe we should lease some Cobras from the US instead? Oh but hang on....
OK - now we are getting somewhere. As there is no new money what
capability do you think should be removed from Defence in order to pay for your ideas? It needs to be a capability rather than salami slicing a current capability as we all now that neither works nor saves the required money.
And please don't hide behind the "I don't want to give the beancounters any ideas" because as yet (and I don't mean to be rude here) none of them have listened to you so far.
And try also not to use the inevitable "disband the RAF" as this too is getting quite boring (and I believe already discounted by Dr Fox).