In June of last year, we posted that UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had announced the construction of a new national flagship intended to promote British businesses around the world.
The proposal received a mixed response. As we noted in a subsequent post, even the royal family had voiced its displeasure with the idea.
Now, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced that plans for the national flagship yacht have been shelved.
The flagship yacht was originally estimated to cost £150m when first announced, but Mr. Wallace last year put the price at between £200m and £250m.
No 10 said it was right to “prioritize” spending “at a time when difficult spending decisions need to be made”.
BBC quotes Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey saying he welcomed the news that “the previous prime minister’s vanity project has been scrapped”.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Wallace said the government was “accelerating” the development of research and surveillance ships.
He added that, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it was “right that we prioritize delivering capabilities that safeguard our national infrastructure”.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters: “With Russia’s ongoing illegal war, it is right that we prioritize our capabilities.”
Mr. Sunak “thinks it is right to prioritize at a time when difficult spending decisions need to be made,” the spokesman added.
In a report last year, the Commons defence committee estimated the flagship would require 50-60 personnel and cost £20-30m a year to run.
This would add to “ongoing pressure on an already constrained naval budget,” the committee added.
Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.