Would a legal carrier minimum guarantee readiness?

Would a law requiring the Royal Navy to maintain three carriers secure the force in the way a statutory minimum does in the United States?

It might preserve the stated number, but governments would probably find creative ways to meet the letter of the law.

A statutory minimum could protect a nominal carrier count, but governments would interpret the rule creatively. Compliance on paper would not necessarily guarantee three fully crewed, equipped, and deployable ships. No specific means of compliance is proposed. Legal inventory and operational readiness remain separate questions.