shipbuilding

This week the politicians, thinking only of the national interest, decided to keep the John Lewis list, the houseful of luxuries they expect us to buy for them, and they even added to their executive toy wishlist with three billion pounds of new aircraft carriers. Sadly we no longer build such vessels in the North East, although the news that the Clemenceau is to be broken up on Teesside shows we'll probably get hold of these new ships eventually and it's a good excuse for me to show another former old warship being towed into an east coast breaker's yard, Britain's favourite painting according to one vote I believe, and to stick in a link to a certain nineteen eighties reflection on new warship orders which saves me writing anything more and so is good for everybody.