Fox backs royal yacht campaign

PLANS for a new £100 million Royal Yacht Britannia have received the backing of Liam Fox, who revealed that he would “love a trade yacht” to help win deals after Brexit.

The International Trade Secretary said he supported a replacement if it were paid for by private donors. Tory MPs and The Daily Telegraph have been campaigning for months for a replacement for Britannia, which was decommissioned by Tony Blair’s Labour government 20 years ago.

Dr Fox is the second Cabinet minister to come out in favour of a new royal yacht. He privately told friends last month: “If the private sector pays for it, I would love a trade yacht.”

A source close to Dr Fox added: “He is more than willing to look at proposals from

the private sector but there can be no public money spent on it.”

This week Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said a new yacht would attract “overwhelming support” and will be considered by the Government.

Mr Johnson’s remarks were the first time that a government minister had backed the campaign at the Despatch Box in the Commons.

Mr Johnson was responding to a question from Jake Berry, the Tory MP who has led the campaign for a pri- vately funded yacht. He added that a new ship “would indeed add greatly to the soft power of this country, a soft power which is already very considerable”.

Last night they were supported by Michael Gove, the former Cabinet minister, who told The Daily Telegraph, that Mr Johnson “was absolutely spot on”.

Downing Street has repeatedly said that a new yacht is “not a priority” for Theresa May and that the Government will not spend any money on it.