Mrs Windsor's new yacht !!!

That stupid bastard Boris Johnson has committed £200 Million of 'our' money in commissioning a new yacht for Mrs Windsor.


Boris Johnson to get new flagship but it may not rule the waves until 2025
Vessel to reflect UK’s status as ‘great, independent maritime trading nation’, PM says

Kate Devlin
Whitehall Editor
3 hours ago
comments

Boris Johnson is to get a new flagship – on top of his prime ministerial plane – but it may not rule the waves until 2025.

There is no price tag yet for the ship, which will be crewed by the royal navy and is expected to be in service for about 30 years, although some estimates have put it as high as £200m.

And while construction is set to begin as early as 2022, the vessel, which could be named after Prince Philip, may not be ready for another three years.

The prime minister came under fire last year when it emerged he planned to repaint his official RAF plane red, white and blue, at an estimated cost of £900,000, prompting claims it would look like a “brightly coloured lollipop” in the sky.

Mr Johnson suggested the new ship would help the UK seize post-Brexit trading opportunities and reflect the UK’s “burgeoning status as a great, independent maritime trading nation”.

He added: “Every aspect… from its build to the businesses it showcases onboard will represent and promote the best of British – a clear and powerful symbol of our commitment to be an active player on the world stage.”

It is thought British businesses will be able to promote their products on the ship, which will sail all over the world, hosting trade shows and high-level negotiations alongside promoting British interests.

It will be the first national flagship since 1997 when the HMY Britannia was decommissioned.

The ship would play an important role in “achieving the UK’s foreign policy and security objectives”, No 10 said.

The government also wants to construct it in the UK, creating jobs and driving a “renaissance” in Britain’s shipbuilding industry.

The vessel will be built to reflect British design expertise and with a focus on the latest innovations in green technology, No 10 said.

But the ship could raise questions over how many modes of transport the prime minister needs to sell British interests abroad.

Defending the planned paint job on the prime minister’s plane last year, culture secretary Oliver Dowden said the government had always spent money “promoting the UK around the world" and that work on RAF Voyager was part of that effort.



If she wants another royal yacht, since she already owns this, why not commission this as her royal yacht instead and save us the £200 Million which could be more usefully spent in giving our NHS staff a decent salary increase.

 

Seems that Boris's 'Royal yacht' is being blown out of the water before it even slides down the slipway !!!


Boris Johnson condemned by Ken Clarke over ‘silly’ £200m flagship

David Hughes and Emma Bowden
22 June 2021, 10:00 amBoris Johnson’s plan for a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia is “silly populist nonsense”, former chancellor Ken Clarke has said.

Lord Clarke said the £200 million national flagship demonstrates that some in No 10 believe there is “free money” despite the stretched state of the national finances.

Cabinet minister Matt Hancock insists the vessel will pay for itself by boosting British trade with countries where it can dock.


Lord Clarke’s criticism came as official figures showed that government borrowing stood at £24.3 billion in May – down from £43.8 billion a year earlier at the height of the pandemic, but still the second highest figure for the month on record and £18.9 billion more than in 2019.

Conservative peer Lord Clarke told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the new vessel is a “complete waste of time, silly populist nonsense” and “we have no money” for it.

“It’s a symptom – £200 million is not going to cause problems, but it shows there are people in No 10 who just think there’s free money and who think that waving a Union Jack and sending yachts and aircraft carriers around the world shows what a great power we are.

“We have no money for that kind of thing.”

The vessel will be paid for out of the defence budget despite not being a warship.

It will be the first national flagship since Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997, but the new vessel will be a ship rather than a luxury yacht and is aimed at boosting the Prime Minister’s post-Brexit vision of the UK as a global trading nation.

Health Secretary Mr Hancock rejected Lord Clarke’s criticism of the scheme.


Lord Clarke dismissed the new national flagship as a ‘complete waste of time’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
“The amount of investment that you can get in from the rest of the world by showing the best of Britain in harbours the world over is very, very significant,” Mr Hancock told Today.

“And I think we should be getting out there and trading with the world.

“And so I think that a royal yacht is a great idea and I’m very positive about it, because I think it will more than pay for itself many, many times over.”