I do wonder how many votes the new carriers gained Gordy and whether or not it would have made more fiscal sense to say to all the voters - vote for me and I will give you a cheque for a thousand pounds tax free.....
You do realise that is a myth? The Great Financial Genius fought tooth and nail against ordering the ships, right up until the last moment when he realised that he was going out on his @rse and was clutching for anything to save it. Given the build plan had been Rosyth since 2003-4 at the latest, the myth doesn't hold water. Not that it stops its Pongo originators from repeating it ad nauseum.
However, that doesn't address the likelihood of overruns, let alone the fact that the current plan (as it will emerge from SDSR15) is apt to leave many unhappy as it is: No MPAs, 48+N Dave B to support carriers (one or two? One is a bit silly) where once there were Tornados and Harriers.
LO - it doesn't address alien invasions or the outbreak of zombie pandemics either. Or increased european tensions for that matter.....
FF2020 FJ force structure as of now is 7 squadrons - 5 Typhoon, 2 Dave. There are no like for like numerical replacements for the Tonkas or puffer jets. If we're lucky, there may be a realisation that won't cut it, but actually funding that is likely to be an SDSR 2020 issue. Whatever you think you might save by binning CASD would be swallowed up by any non-CASD deterrent replacement.
So you'd still have a funding issue. And a non-credible deterrent if you bin CASD.