No bread? It's okay, we can still have circuses

New yacht for Queen's jubilee, suggests Michael Gove

Education Secretary Michael Gove has suggested the Queen should be given a new royal yacht to mark her Diamond Jubilee.

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He said the Queen's "highly significant contribution" to Britain and the Commonwealth should be recognised with a "lasting legacy".

Labour said the idea showed Mr Gove was "out of touch".

Mr Gove wrote: "In spite, and perhaps because of the austere times, the celebration should go beyond those of previous jubilees and mark the greater achievement that the diamond anniversary represents.

"Events such as proms and the party at the palace organised for the diamond jubilee, and street parties, although excellent, are transient.

"It would be appropriate to do something that will mark the significance of this occasion with fitting ceremony.

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Deputy PM Nick Clegg says he suspects the public would object to the idea of a new royal yacht

"But Michael Gove has shown he is out of touch with this proposal. When school budgets are being slashed, parents will be wondering how Gove came even to suggest this idea. This is not the time to spend £60m on a yacht."

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A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: "The Diamond Jubilee will be an extraordinary occasion with communities across Britain, the Commonwealth and the world coming together to celebrate this landmark and pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen.

"However from the outset, the Palace has been clear that the Diamond Jubilee celebrations should reflect the current economic climate."

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A plan by the education secretary, Michael Gove, to send a copy of the King James Bible to every school in the country – each including a personal inscription from him – has run into trouble after government sources reported he has been told to find private funding for the project.

Sources said David Cameron told Gove that while he supported the idea, the education secretary should avoid using taxpayers' money for it. But Gove has yet to find a private philanthropic sponsor for the enterprise, and some Whitehall sources said he has been told he cannot distribute the book until he does so, leaving thousands of copies in a warehouse abroad.

The Department for Education denied aspects of the story, but said they did not know if the copies had yet been printed, or where the copies might currently be stored. They added the Bible was always intended to be distributed to schools at Easter, so there had been no slippage in the timetable due to the lack of a sponsor.

Education department officials said the prime minister supported the plan and said they did not recognise accounts of a conversation in which Gove was told no taxpayers' money could be used. But Whitehall sources said Gove was told at the highest levels that it would be wrong to spend nearly £400,000 on the project at a time when the government was in negotiations with teaching unions over cuts to their pension entitlement.

Education department officials insisted the bibles would be distributed before Easter even if no sponsor had been found. A senior education department source said enough public cash was available to press ahead and No 10 had merely indicated that "sponsorship was desirable". A Department for Education official said in a statement: "The prime minister was clear in his speech in December about the importance of the King James Bible, and marking this important anniversary. The prime minister supports the plan to send a copy to every school. We continue to seek philanthropic sponsorship."

The 400th anniversary of the publication of the Bible was in 2011.

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leonel said:

You guys should do what we do here in the US; Tell the poor to go fall off a pier and stop being envious of successful people! It's all untrue of course but your national right wing news channel will do the hard work of spinning it that way

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Bugfatty300 said:

Successful people? Successful at what? Being born into lavish wealth and arbitrary entitlement? I wish I could have learned that skill before my conception.

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classical_hero said:

How much would a yacht cost? At most 30 million pounds? That is really peanuts in comparison to the debt problems facing the UK. This is really making a mountain out of a molehill. If you guys really want to get rid of the monarchy, then start a petition and see how it goes.

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classical_hero said:

How much would a yacht cost? At most 30 million pounds? That is really peanuts in comparison to the debt problems facing the UK. This is really making a mountain out of a molehill. If you guys really want to get rid of the monarchy, then start a petition and see how it goes.

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warpus said:

Why not build the yacht but give it to a random Brit, selected at random? Why should the queen get all the spoils?

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classical_hero said:

How much would a yacht cost? At most 30 million pounds? That is really peanuts in comparison to the debt problems facing the UK. This is really making a mountain out of a molehill. If you guys really want to get rid of the monarchy, then start a petition and see how it goes.

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Ajidica said:

Doesn't the queen already have several boats?
Also, what is the education secretary doing talking about a new boat for an unelected german theocrat?

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classical_hero said:

How much would a yacht cost? At most 30 million pounds? That is really peanuts in comparison to the debt problems facing the UK. This is really making a mountain out of a molehill. If you guys really want to get rid of the monarchy, then start a petition and see how it goes.

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Winston Hughes said:

It seems the yacht will be 100% privately funded.

That doesn't stop Gove from looking like a complete idiot, though, since he clearly said it should be a gift to the Queen from taxpayers.

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Quackers said:

The left is in shambles..

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