Ocean isn't really fast enough for fixed wing ops as she's only got diesels, not gas turbines. Plus she's pretty much knackered as it is, due to a combination of being built to commercial standards and being worked much harder than originally planned.I suppose they could retrofit HMS Ocean to accept STOL aircraft below deck but why?
To be honest at this stage any media coverage of cuts to the armed forces is just speculation as to the outcome of the SDR, everything gets considered including dis-banding the Dead Sparrows, turning Victory into matchsticks and using the Household Cavalry to make glue. Some of it may be tactical leaks to try and affect the outcome.
What I think is more interesting is that the group developing EMCAT the UKs electro-magnetic catapult system have recently been resurrected, three years after the program was frozen, which gives slightly more weight to the theory that the F-35 order will be changed to F/A-18E/F. This would work out at about a $10Billion saving, apparently, even when the extra cost of the ship gets factored in.