Photo: VIV TOWNLEY / AJAX / ALAMY / thetimes.co.uk
As the world burns… the Brits are building a £100 million ($127 million) boat to boost the morale of the people. This isn’t happening yet, but it would if it were up to one Lord and former trade minister.
As of this moment, the UK is the second hardest-hit country by the health crisis and, even as re-opening steps are being taken, it’s bracing for a second wave. At the same time, officials are warning of an impending economic crisis, which is the case in most countries around the world and is a logical consequence of the fact that many businesses had to shutter for several consecutive months.
This context is necessary to understand how Lord of Birmingham Digby Jones came up with the idea that, he is convinced, will boost the country’s morale. It has nothing to do with raising money for the NHS or for education or to support local businesses. In the Lord’s book, anything can be made better with a yacht.
Speaking with The Telegraph, Lord Jones, who is a former trade minister and head of the CBI, says that it’s a crying shame the HMY Britannia was decommissioned in 1997, because it attracted huge crowds and offered a beacon of hope for the people. So why not build another? Another Royal Yacht Britannia would cost £100 million ($127 million) and, of course, taxpayers would cover a third of that, with the rest coming from the National Lottery and export / private companies.
“Why now? [It would be] one of the biggest morale boosts you can have. You'd have it doing tours of Britain, and open days you'd be amazed how many people will come to that,” Lord Jones explains. “And why now? Because the nation is going to come through this in better shape. If we actually believe in ourselves. That's what we need to believe in ourselves...”
“We have a damn good chance in this country and a royal yacht at this moment would just be one of those good quality delivery messages,” he continues.
Those people who would pay for the boat and then rush in droves to see it would not get a chance to actually sail on it, though. Former environment secretary Owen Paterson, who backs the Lord’s proposal, says multi-billionaires would fight each other to score an invite on board. So it will be ultimately built for the people who can very well afford to build their own superyachts.
Meanwhile, Tory MP Mark Francois believes this new boat would be a symbol of the amazing post-Brexit Britain.
Needless to say, the idea of using taxpayers’ money for a very expensive and useless boat did not fare well with the taxpayers. And they made sure to make themselves heard on social media.
This context is necessary to understand how Lord of Birmingham Digby Jones came up with the idea that, he is convinced, will boost the country’s morale. It has nothing to do with raising money for the NHS or for education or to support local businesses. In the Lord’s book, anything can be made better with a yacht.
Speaking with The Telegraph, Lord Jones, who is a former trade minister and head of the CBI, says that it’s a crying shame the HMY Britannia was decommissioned in 1997, because it attracted huge crowds and offered a beacon of hope for the people. So why not build another? Another Royal Yacht Britannia would cost £100 million ($127 million) and, of course, taxpayers would cover a third of that, with the rest coming from the National Lottery and export / private companies.
“Why now? [It would be] one of the biggest morale boosts you can have. You'd have it doing tours of Britain, and open days you'd be amazed how many people will come to that,” Lord Jones explains. “And why now? Because the nation is going to come through this in better shape. If we actually believe in ourselves. That's what we need to believe in ourselves...”
“We have a damn good chance in this country and a royal yacht at this moment would just be one of those good quality delivery messages,” he continues.
Those people who would pay for the boat and then rush in droves to see it would not get a chance to actually sail on it, though. Former environment secretary Owen Paterson, who backs the Lord’s proposal, says multi-billionaires would fight each other to score an invite on board. So it will be ultimately built for the people who can very well afford to build their own superyachts.
Meanwhile, Tory MP Mark Francois believes this new boat would be a symbol of the amazing post-Brexit Britain.
Needless to say, the idea of using taxpayers’ money for a very expensive and useless boat did not fare well with the taxpayers. And they made sure to make themselves heard on social media.
NEW Britain needs a new £100million Royal Yacht Britannia to provide 'morale boost' during coronavirus pandemic, former Trade minister Digby Jones tells this week's edition of Chopper's Politics podcast. https://t.co/iH7B2otJSF @ChoppersPodcast
— Christopher HopeÝ (@christopherhope) June 4, 2020
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