First Ashcroft stumps up for a Royal Yacht – but would Miliband?

Lord Ashcroft

Lord Aschroft has come riding to the rescue of a grateful nation this morning, telling the Daily Mail and ConservativeHome that he will stump up £5m towards a new royal yacht to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The idea caused a stir this week after the Guardian reported that Michael Gove thought it was just what her Maj deserved, though played down his suggestion it be privately funded thus triggering inevitable Twitter outrage.

I was chatting to a mischief making minister who suggested the issue could be used to cause more problems for Ed Miliband.

“David Cameron and George Osborne should announce they are giving £100 out of their own pockets to the yacht, and then sit back and watch days of contortions from Miliband as he tries to weigh up being either disrespectful to the head of state, or out of touch with his supporters who think the whole thing is just awful,” I was told.

As tactics go, it is perfect because the Labour leader would once again have to upset someone.
“He’d probably give £50 to the yacht and then split the rest between 50 leftie charities,” says the minister laughing, before heading off to start unknotting the bunting for June.

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• hayneman

  Instead of this crude bit of opportunism, it would be much more appropriate for Ashcroft to honour the promise he made to William Hague (and, by extension, us)some time ago, to pay his rightful taxes in this country. The fact that he has continued to renege on this undertaking says far more about the man than any cheap grandstanding.

  Pay up ’your Lordship’ or give up your title…

• ptstroud

  I suppose it could be set against what he owes us in tax.

• Dynalive

  This woman does no more than 1 million other women in this country could do in the same job, for a fraction of the money. By the way why doesn’t Charlie-Boy step up with a donation. God knows why but we pay this joker £50 million each year. He has no real world skills and in fact is unemployable.

• iagon

  I hope that Sir Richard Branson joins in.  How cool it would be to have a Royal Yacht named The Virgin Queen

• http://radicalpoemsofpeter.blogspot.com/ Peter Wicks

  A better suggestion would be to abolish the monarchy then the fawning creeps would be without a arse to lick….