There has been much recent interest in building a new royal yacht. In a letter published on January 6, Alistair Lexden reminded readers of The Daily Telegraph that John Major’s government announced plans for a new yacht 20 years ago this month.
SIR--It is now exactly 20 years since John Major’s government, having foolishly decided two years earlier to decommission Britannia, announced that a new royal yacht would be built and presented to the Queen in 2002 as a gift from the nation on her Golden Jubilee. In January 1997, it declared proudly that the vessel would be built in Britain, with the £ 60 million cost being met from public funds. “It will be a symbol of the Crown, the Kingdom and its maritime traditions”.
History and tradition meant nothing to New Labour, and Tony Blair scrapped the plans. Is this not a fitting moment for Mrs May to redeem that firm Tory pledge? Surely we have not declined so far in the intervening period that public funds are inadequate to meet the cost. There is overwhelming support for the original plan of making a new yacht a gift from us all to a beloved sovereign.
Brexit makes an initiative by Mrs May even more appropriate. There is at the moment a deep longing for decisive, practical action which shows that we are confident about our capacity to shape a new national destiny. It is hard to think of anything that would hearten our country more than the revival of our neglected maritime traditions which a new royal yacht would symbolise.
Lord Lexden
London SW1