One minor comment on his disregard for back seaters: "The latest bit of insanity is that we are looking at buying two-seat Super Hornets and putting navigators in the back seat as Weapons System Operators (WSO). Our primary mission is air defence and there are no two-seat air defence fighters in the world today".....
I believe the US two seat Super Hornets, "F" models, put a heavy emphasis on Fleet Air Defense (and do strike as well) and are coded in the 100 and 200 series in most carrier wings as the fleet defense "fighter" squadrons taking over from the F-14. The MiG 31, SU-27, remaining F-4's, Iranian F-14's, some F-15s, some French aircraft, etc also conduct air defense and have WSO's....Most are multi role and having the WSO comes in handy...
I have no opinion otherwise except to note that "mavericks" that speak their mind can be refreshing, but they can also be an irritant....Often at the same time....