Why a better missile would not necessarily save the carriers

Could better anti-ship missiles have prevented Britain from losing its aircraft carriers?

Probably not; the central struggle was a Treasury-driven funding and inter-service conflict, not simply missile capability.

The carrier outcome was an institutional and budgetary issue. Decades of British defence debate placed the services in competition for funding, leaving technological improvements unable to preserve a carrier force by themselves. A better anti-ship missile would still enter a contest in which services protected their own major programmes by challenging rival claims on the budget. Political and financial structures can decide procurement outcomes as much as weapon performance.