I was thinking of the things I mentioned above. The carriers, MRA4, Type 45, Astute class submarines, all beset by gigantic problems, years late, so overbudget that I barely know how how to describe it without resorting to Edvard Munch.
I could go off into a justification of why all of these projects seem to me to be an unmitigated disaster, but the destroyers are the topical example. They don't even work as oceangoing vehicles, let alone as warfighting machines. My understanding is that they are or soon will be effectively unarmed against any target other than (radar-observable) aircraft or stationary targets on land.
As far as I know once Harpoon goes out of service, the UK will have no ability to attack enemy shipping other than bombing it, which rather assumes a lack of anti-aircraft capability on the part of the enemy, or or torpedoing it. And there are only seven attack submarines in the navy.
I honestly don't want to come off as an unqualified whiner, but when this is the case, and the government attitude is constantly "no problem, BAE, have another couple of hundred million," questions have to be asked.
Edit - Posts like tucumseh's, above, go some way to reinforcing my point of view.
P