I fear it may all come down to what the PM wants, Glojo. If he sees himself as a big player on the international stage and suddenly realizes that he's (litterally) burned his boats, he just might try to make sure he has the forces to back up his ambitions - we certainly don't at the moment, as you rightly point out.
Originally Posted by Glojo
If we only have the one carrier and it is due a refit do we honestly believe there will never be any intereference from Her Majesty's Government to keep the thing at sea because of an ongoing political situation?
Of course there will. Remember the state of the ships we sent to the Falklands?