I'll try and come up with a general reply, because I was out of the loop of this discussion for so long. That said I'm quite happy to come back to the forum, given that there are more interesting active discussions than before.
I am quite sure that the Royal Navy will have 2 Queen Elizabeth-class carriers sometime next decade, because the Invincible-class simply cannot fill the power-projection role sufficiently any more. Yes, it might be delayed, but reports seem to indicate that preparatory work is being conducted to ensure Portsmouth will be able to accomodate them. Comments about Brown wanting to axe them are rather unfounded at this stage. And the Conservatives (only credibly opposition) are committed as well, having ditched their obsession with slashing spending to fund tax cuts.
There is a chance that Darings #7 & 8 might not be ordered, but I'm still hopeful they will be. There's enough time for the orders to go through.
As to the future surface combatants. The Type-23s will stay in service after a extension service, as already mentioned. I think that's a good thing, because it allows the Royal Navy to put money aside for CVF, the other 2 Darings, etc. The Type-23s are still good ships, so making them last a bit longer will allow us to get a truly excellent replacement, rather than something that's great now but not necessarily as good some years down the line.
I think we'd probably be looking at a modification of the Type-45 design, obviously removing the Aster-30s and more advanced components. That would help British shipbuilding, as well as benefit from the experience gained by building the Darings. Things like a UK version of FREMM probably won't happen, though I wouldn't autmatically object if it was selected.
