Britannia replacement will win nation's hearts just like the 2012 Olympics, says minister in charge

The new national flagship to replace the Royal Yacht Britannia will be like the 2012 Olympics - people were suspicious about it until it became a reality, Ben Wallace, the minister in charge of the project, has declared.

Setting out his plans for the new national flagship for the first time, the Defence secretary said the new flagship would be powered by innovative green energy and could even use sail power to travel the world.

However, Mr Wallace admitted that he had not ordered a business plan to be carried out yet which could alarm critics of the scheme, which increased from an initial £150million to £250million in just a week.

Plans for the new ship have been criticised by senior Tories including former Prime Minister Sir John Major and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Nevertheless work on the flagship formally started last week when up to 100 designers, engineers, shipbuilders and manufacturers were briefed on the plans in the Painted Hall at Greenwich by Mr Wallace.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph moments later, Mr Wallace said: "It is anything but a vanity project. All the doomsters slagging it off, I bet they are exactly the same people that slagged off the Olympics in 2012.

"All the sort of sucking of teeth and 'it's dreadful why we're having it'. I remember in the build-up to 2012, all of those people banging on about it. [But] they just evaporated on day one of the Olympic ceremony."

Mr Wallace's hope is that the new flagship can be like a floating embassy, a place where world leaders can convene to agree trade deals that can showcase the best of British engineering, powered by the most up to date "green technology".

One early idea is for the new flagship to be powered in part by sails. He said: "There are lots of ways to get more out of the ship, more innovative. There are examples of ships around here that mix basically sail and engine.

"I'm open to all of those things. There are yachts, super yachts out there that have that. There are innovative engines looking at sustainable fuel. Yeah. So it might be a traditional engine. It might use a different fuel."

Mr Wallace has to balance using the most cutting edge technology with ensuring the ship can be in the water by the end of 2024.

He said: "If we jump in with both feet on an unproven capability, or [using] an engine that's never been used before, then all the track record of shipbuilding tells you that's high risk, and high risk means it takes longer."

Concerns about the cost were voiced when the flagship's budget increased from £150million in a MoD procurement notice to £250million by the time Mr Wallace addressed the designers in just seven days.

Mr Wallace explained that the "notice was a sort of technical guideline, but the actual decision I've made is that our commissioned ship up to between £200m and £250m, that's the ship's price".

The hope is that the new flagship can act as a showcase for British engineering, a catalyst for trade deals and have the ability to convene what Mr Wallace describes as "defence diplomacy".

Britannia's "trade days" - when chief executives were invited aboard to sign deals - were said to have generated hundreds of millions of pounds for the UK in its pomp.

Mr Wallace told the designers last week that the ship will "pay for itself over and over again", but when he was less certain about a business case for the new ship.

"If you're asking if there's a technical document with a breakdown, not at that level that I've seen. But it won't be hard for us to produce one based on Britannia's previous activity," Mr Wallace said.

"But I don't think I need to reveal some secret document that doesn't exist. It's quite simple."

Mr Wallace was dismissive of critics who have said that £250million can be better spent on other public services like the National Health Service, saying the cost is "less than 0.01 percent of the defence budget" and "we can re profile other programmes".

He said: "Let's look at it the other way round - if we don't continue to be a trading, exporting nation, we don't earn the tax revenues to pay for our health services and education."

Mr Wallace also held out the possibility of private companies helping to fund the new ship: "There may come a time when we ask other people ... how they would like to show their support for the national endeavour."

The new ship will have some unspecified "national security capabilities" to allow the UK Government under trade rules to direct that it must be constructed in a UK yard.

Mr Wallace's hope is that the royal family - which has been silent about the plans - will use the new flagship when it is built: "It is there to also showcase the royal family as one of our exports."

Mr Wallace was coy about the ship's name, despite pressure from 10 Downing Street to name it "Prince Philip" after the late Duke of Edinburgh, saying simply that "we've had suggestions".

Above all he was optimistic and excited about the plans for the flagship: "I can't wait to greet the Telegraph to cover some export export signing contract in a few years to come," he said. "And, you know, I think it'll all be worth it."

Listen to Ben Wallace's full interview on Chopper's Politics, The Telegraph's weekly political podcast using the audio player above, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.