Having calmed down somewhat from my previous rant, I am struggling to think who in MoD favours the -B over the -C model. Outside the MoD the key STOVL protagonists are presumably the USMC and Rolls-Royce, and possibly BAES if earlier posts are to be believed - but none of these explain why the UK military chain of command appears to be recommending the -B. The only military people I can conceive of preferring the -B model are senior ex-Harrier pilots who might be struggling to let go of their unique selling point.
Surely that is not enough of a reason for all this messing about? Something I heard a long while ago, but dismissed as being too cynical for words, was that the Air Staff preferred F-35B as its shorter range would reduce the radius of influence of the carrier group... please tell me this is indeed too cynical for words, otherwise my despair for the future of our services will get even deeper.