There was always a prospect for more RAF Merlin sales while the SABR programme was ongoing, but that drifted for a long time and was replaced by the Future Medium Helicopter effort, which has also slipped significantly to the right while the MoD fights current fires by stretching the life of Puma, Sea King and potentially some Lynx also.
I think the Merlin has faded a bit from many people's minds as it was operating in Iraq for a long while until a couple of months ago, and so couldn't be committed to the fight in Afghanistan at the same time, despite the addition of the ex-Danish aircraft. But that should change with the deployment of the type to Afghanistan before the end of this year. I'd be especially interested to see whether the RAF might opt to use the Merlin for the immediate response team tasks currently flown using the larger and slower Chinook?
More Merlin sales in the UK then? I personally doubt it. Bob Ainsworth says the MoD's current planning is all angled towards supporting operations in Afghanistan, so if we're going to buy more of anything then common sense must dictate that the Chinook would win any funding argument. Perhaps a Mk 4 version of the Merlin could then have a shout in the Future Medium Helicopter deal, once that gains momentum?