The ship would host trade fairs, political summits and diplomatic negotiations.
The new British government on Monday annulled a plan sponsored by former Prime Minister Boris Johnsonto build an official ship that would act as an “embassy” floating United Kingdom in the world, in order to prioritize more pressing needs.
Defense Minister Ben Wallace informed deputies that he will stop & # 8220; with immediate effect & # 8221; the bidding process to build the ship announced by Johnson on May 30, 2021, which was to replace the former royal yacht Britannia, currently converted into a tourist attraction in Scotland.
The initial allocation to promote the project was 250 million pounds (about 261 billion Chilean pesos), which was already questioned at the time by the Labor opposition, which wanted to allocate the funds to recover from the pandemic.
Wallace specified this Monday that he will give priority to the construction of a new maritime surveillance vessel MROSS (in English) because, in the context of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, “it is correct that we put the development of troops that protect our national infrastructure”.
The ship conceived by the conservative Johnson, who was forced to resign last July, should be chartered in 2024 or 2025 and its mission would be to promote political interests and of the United Kingdom in the world, hosting trade fairs, political summits and diplomatic negotiations, according to what he said then.
The current Conservative Executive, led by Rishi Sunak, seeks saving measures before announcing on November 17 November his plan to reduce state debt and deficits, which is expected to include tax increases and public spending cuts.