Military figures and business leaders have also backed the project to return the yacht to service, saying it can become once again a “wonderful advert for Great Britain”. Two options are being considered – recommissioning the original yacht, which is currently berthed in Edinburgh as a tourist attraction, or ordering a replica. A Number 10 spokesman said the issue was not on the Government's immediate "agenda" while Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, said the original Britannia would stay in Scotland. Lord Hague, the former foreign secretary, says the Britannia was one of the “best assets” diplomats and ministers have ever had to promote the UK. Writing in The Telegraph, the Tory peer suggests that the cost of a new vessel could be spread across all Whitehall departments that use it, adding the money would “soon be assembled”. He also argues that a return would boost Britain’s “soft power” after Brexit, recalling the pull the vessel had over foreign businessman and politicians, “drawing power that money cannot buy”.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has mentioned her potential approval of the recommissioning the Royal Yacht Britannia as an advertisement for Britain’s trading potential. The yacht was decommissioned in 1997 after helping to secure £3bn in trade deals between 1991 and 1995. The yacht, currently a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, could be recommissioned or a replica could be made. A new ship would also help Britain compete with other countries that have been building their own ships since the end of World War II. Former Foreign Secretary Lord Hague wrote in The Telegraph that the funding for the recommissioning could be spread across Whitehall.