What a load of horse shit! Who put us in this mess in the first place?
At the end of the day, our economic position is like one big shit sandwich and everyone is going to have to take a bite.
IMO. the Harrier is a 50 year old plane and although it does a fantastic job, it is near to being replaced anyway because of certain restrictions i.e. not being capable of supersonic speed. If these are scrapped, then why do we need the Ark Royal (originally designed as a through deck cruiser not an aircraft carrier)?
OK, it takes away our ability to apply fast jets from the sea but if my knowledge is correct, in every conflict since the Falklands, we have been able to apply ground attack aircraft from land bases.
I agree that is sad that the navy are no where near as strong as they were in the past but in a few years, they will be getting their pride back in the form of having 2 of the largest carriers in europe. It also makes sense to have one of these changed to carry other fixed wing attack aircraft other than VTOL.