the procurement of expensive new projects that a, we did not need to replace yet
Is this meant to say 'new projects to replace platforms which we did not need to replace yet'?
If so, you're saying that VC10, TriStar and Nimrod R1 (among others) should have continued indefinitely? Fair enough, Rivet Joint is accepted by most as a worthwhile investment, but to claim that the others were fit for another XXX years service is avoiding hard facts. Of course the beloved vintage airliners could have continued for ever and ever - but life extensions etc would have had to happen years ago for this to be feasible. That didn't happen = they needed to be replaced. Whether or not Voyager/Airtanker was the correct solution is a different matter...
As for the carrier and F-35, the Navy seem pretty convinced that a 'proper' carrier (no offence to the through-deck cruisers) is worthwhile, and if you're going to have a big ship, you might as well have some decent aircraft to fly from it, no?