I Must Admit I Like Boats,

the trouble is the ones I like I could not afford to fill up with fuel!

but here is a idea to replace the Britannia that after the 1997 general election Tony Blair scrapped, a 515ft, four-masted ship incorporating the very latest materials and technology, the plans included royal quarters and state rooms for grand diplomatic and corporate events, the trustees were all agreed that the new ship would have to be fully occupied all year round, codenamed FSP21 (Future Ship Project 21st Century),


this great vessel would be built in the UK, but its £80 million construction cost would not be financed by the British taxpayer or the running costs, instead, it would be funded by donations from individuals and corporations (millions of pounds are already in the pipeline), also it would be run by a charitable trust, it would cover its own costs — through everything from trade exhibitions to training sea cadets,

all very good for Britain and by providing world-class facilities for oceanographic and environmental studies, the ship could open up an entirely new revenue stream, the British Antarctic Survey became an eager new recruit to the consortium and the ship was redesigned to house all the submersibles and laboratories (wet and dry) required for serious academic research — not to mention room for 20 scientists,

equally important throughout, however, has been the ship's proposed role as a national flagship, up to now, the designers have deliberately avoided the 'royal yacht' label for two reasons, first, FSP21 would be much more than a mere replacement for Britannia (a point underlined by its colour — red rather than Britannia blue), second, the Palace cannot endorse any project that does not enjoy full Government support,

but for me I still love the 'old' Britannia, yes I am a Royalist, just think if we did not have a Royal family we would have a President, so who would you wish to lead us, let me think, Gordon Brown? Tony Blair! not for me, give me our Royal family every time.