Sink royal yacht to fund the police
Labour wants to axe £250million flagship
LABOUR is demanding Boris Johnson scraps plans for a £250million national flagship and spends the money on the police instead.
The vessel, to replace the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was retired in 1997, has been branded the PM’S biggest vanity project.
Now Yvette Cooper says the money would be better spent on a nationwide network of police hubs to combat community crime.
The shadow Home Secretary said: “We need to see police back on our streets working in communities to keep people safe.”
A Labour source added: “The Royal Family do not want a new yacht and it would bring no advantage to the Navy. The money saved could fund a new police hub in hundreds of local neighbourhoods next year.”
The hubs would create Neighbourhood Prevention Teams made up of police, community support officers, local authority staff and youth workers.
They would deal with low-level crime such as broken windows, graffiti, fly-tipping, or drug dealing. Labour analysis reveals there are 3,300 nuisance incidents in England and Wales every day.
Ms Cooper will unveil her plan on TV today as part of Labour’s local election campaign as figures show just one in three people believe the Tories can cut crime.
The number who say they never see a cop has almost doubled since the Conservatives came to power in 2010 from 25% to 48%. There were big rises in antisocial behaviour reports during the pandemic.
Mr Johnson announced plans for the flagship last year to host diplomatic meetings when he’s abroad and as a showcase for trade fairs.