• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

This you can pay for? Defence Secretary says royal yacht ‘affordable’

The vessel – which could reportedly cost £200 million – is due to be paid for out of the Ministry of Defence budget.

Henry Goodwin by Henry Goodwin
2021-06-24 10:08
in Politics
Photo: PA

Photo: PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

The Defence Secretary said it is “perfectly legitimate” for his department to fund the building of a national flagship to succeed the Royal Yacht Britannia, despite budget pressures.

The vessel – which could reportedly cost £200 million – is due to be paid for out of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget, even though No 10 has confirmed the ship will be for trade rather than defence purposes.

MPs have questioned the wisdom of lumbering Ben Wallace’s department with the bill when it already has an equipment budget blackhole of £17 billion.

But the Defence Secretary said the costs were “affordable” and argued the MoD was best placed to fund the project given its experience in shipbuilding.

Giving evidence to the Commons Defence Committee,  Wallace said: “Why is the MoD leading on it? Because we build ships, lots of ships and I’m sure as much as I’m very fond of the Cabinet Office, for example, I’m not sure they’ve ever built a ship.

“I think it is perfectly legitimate that we put it in this department and then we can use our knowledge and indeed our relationship with industry to make sure we get value for money and it produces what we want – I think that’s the best way to go about it.”

Asked whether the MoD should be paying for the build with its “stretched budget”, the Cabinet minister said: “The estimated costs are less than 0.1 per cent of the defence budget, of the £13 billion we’re going to spend over the next 10 years on the shipbuilding pipeline – we think it is affordable.”

RelatedPosts

Watch: Tories take a beating as BBC QT heads to Inverness

Steve Bray fundraiser nears a quarter of a MILLION pounds

Labour MP asks whether US-born Boris should be deported for breaking the law

No10 says PM had no reason to block appointment of Pincher as deputy chief whip

The Cabinet minister said it could act as a training vessel for the Royal Navy and suggested that, once built, operational costs could be recuperated from other Whitehall departments if they use the boat.

 Wallace said he would consider alternative suggestions, such as repurposing a Type 32 frigate for use as a trade flagship – a move being argued for by ex-defence minister Tobias Ellwood.

“I’m absolutely happy to look at your suggestion on whether we have a different design Type 32 which can be tasked,” he told committee chair Ellwood.

“You are on the right track insofar as all of these ships are platforms which should be flexible – we should be designing in flexibility.”

His comments come after defence minister Baroness Goldie told peers the national flagship will have “an important national security and foreign policy function”.

The boat 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.

The vessel will be used to host trade fairs, ministerial summits and diplomatic talks.

Construction of the new ship is expected to begin as soon as 2022 and it will enter service within the next four years.

Related: The Queen just summed up Matt Hancock in two words

Tags: royal yacht

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

People in 70s suffering memory loss had it restored – after brain was zapped with electric pulses

One in five would trust AI over politicians in Brexit negotiations – report

Is the Casual Gaming Trend Still Relevant in 2017?

The Haig Club Clubman Room: Fakers Gonna Fake

Mr Fogg’s to host Father’s Day cigar and whisky pairing

EU energy ministers could cut off third countries – ‘like UK’ – crisis worsens

Lifehack London: new services to help busy urbanites

BAO of Soho: Restaurant Review

Considering returning to education? Ways to take the financial sting out of it

Diversity Jobs Board Launched

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.