Monday 16 January 2012

That Royal Yacht 'problem'

From Lucy Manning (ITV) on twitter:
"@lucymanning New yacht to be for education & royals. Money from Canadian businesses £10mill, major donor pledged £5mill, Foyles 0.5mill for library."
Right, that is £15½million - £45½million to go.


Personally, I would like to see this gain public support - if only to teach our elected dictatorship that what we want we will willingly pay for. It is things we don't want, like annual EU fees (lets face it, 1½ days payments = 1 yacht); political 'personal largesse'; 'not fit for purpose' energy policies; unnecessary, flawed, railway lines and 'misplaced' overseas aid that we grudgingly pay for.


Just saying.........

13 comments:

subrosa said...

What's all this nonsense about an new yacht. She already has a yacht and it sits in dock at Leith.

Sail it doon the watter tae Lundun once it's current re-re-refurbish has finished.

Simple.

WitteringsfromWitney said...

SR: True - but I thought it had been 'Alexed'...... If he will let us have it back then fine. :)

TomTom said...

Roman Abramovitch should be invited to offer one of his 5 yachts to Her Majesty in lieu of the taxes he owes for living in England

Woodsy42 said...

The Labour govt only took the old one away out of spite and malice, so it would be quite fitting to give it back.
As it's in Scotland there is a wonderful PR opportunity here for Salmond to make himself popular in middle England by driving the process.

Anonymous said...

The RN has loads of spare rusting hulks around, refit one of those - a minesweeper perhaps - it'll sure bring back memories for Charlie.

TomTom said...

Actually Woodsy42 it was Sir John Nott as Defence Secretary that was told to scrap it but saved it scrapping HMS Endeavour instead and costing us £800 million in lost ships at the Falklands to save £300,000 in running costs. Britannia was earmarked for scrappage by Thatcher's Defence Review

Woodsy42 said...

Then I stand corrected Tomtom, I thought the original plan at that time was to replace it and Labour closed it down.

The Gray Monk said...

Strange, isn't it, that little Denmark proudly maintains a Royal Yacht, the Danebrog, and would no more dream of scrapping it and not replacing it than they would consider becoming Swedish - but Britain resents the Royal Yacht, goes green with envy at any 'perk' the Royals are perceived to get and can't see that the PM's office alone costs almost four times what the Royals cost ...

Sadly, I doubt Britannia could be restored to service now, but a Yacht could be bought in from one of the Oil Sheik's fleets.

On her last deployment, the trade fair in Cape Town, HMY Britannia saw over 22 billion pounds of trade and business transacted in just three days. Compare that with around 1 billion managed by a visit to a trade fair by the then Trade Secretary ... The yacht more than paid its way and its upkeep, but, as someone else has remarked, the politicians were jealous because they couldn't make use of it themselves.

WitteringsfromWitney said...

TGRW: Appreciate your last point, but do not know whether it would be 'cost-effective'. If decommissioned, then one presumes kit, fittings, equipment has been removed........

TT & W42: Glad you sorted that out.....

Anon: It is the cost aspect of refitting a minesweeper vs refitting HYMY Brit vs a new one.

TGM: Nice comment, thanks. Agree refitting may be not cost effective, and also my comment on a new one being just over a days payment to the EU. When taking into account your point about 'earnings' from trade visits why the hell are people complaining about the cost of a new one? Sheesh!

Anonymous said...

The problem here is IF a new royal yacht is commissioned for construction, the government HAS by EU law to offer the build for tender EU wide.
Germany will doubtless get it (rather ironic really)

WitteringsfromWitney said...

Anon: And the irony of a nation which we have had to put in their place on more than one occasion having to request the opportunity to build (or in basic English,having to tender/plead to have the opportunity of building) a yacht for our Monarch escapes you.......?

TomTOm said...

the government HAS by EU law to offer the build for tender EU wide

NOT if it is a Royal Navy ship as Britannia was....Defence is excluded from EU Procurement

WitteringsfromWitney said...

TT: Thanks for pointing that out.