No 10 backs down in row over funding for new £200m royal yacht | Tax and spending | The Guardian
… The Sunday Times reported the yacht had become the source of a “huge row” in government over how it is funded. The paper quoted an official as saying it was a “complete and utter shitshow” and added: “When it was first floated, the PM wanted it to be built in Britain. It was given to [Cabinet Office minister Michael] Gove to sort out, but it became clear that under procurement rules it could only be built here if it was a navy thing with a bunch of fake weapons on board. So Gove passed it on to the MoD. The Treasury stayed out of it.”
R Adm Chris Parry, a former senior naval commander, said: “Frankly the narrative around this has been really poor. And the designs I’ve seen – I wouldn’t go to sea in that – it looks like an oligarch’s yacht.”
He added: “The only way you can justify the MoD paying, is if it can also fulfil an operational role in addition to its ceremonial and commercial roles. It can’t just go round the seas as a permanent plaything exhibition space. It could be a hospital ship or an auxiliary ship. That way it is not just a prestige platform; it would contribute to the MoD as it is supposed to do and that is to produce military capability. And I think most of my colleagues think like that.” …
… Shadow justice minister Karl Turner asked: “How is it possible to vote against feeding school kids in a pandemic whilst at the same time justify spending upwards of £200m on Johnson’s holiday yacht?”
(Source: theguardian.com)
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