NO Michael Gove you TWAT. I don't want to donate to buy the queen a 60 million pound giant boat.

[Spidermama]

Not content with earmarking £100 million to pay the guards for the jubilee party, bloody unelected Tories want us all to cough up for a fucking great boat for the queen. In THIS climate.

Read it and weep.

I'm so annoyed. Time to join Republic I reckon.

My God I pity Sarah Vine.

I'm sure the Queen would prefer a horse.

What planet is this man living on??! Haven't we paid enough already!!!!

Or some gin

I already disliked him now I think I pity him because I think he must be deranged

Can you fashion the twigs in the shape of a horse, Stealth, standing on the pebbles, in the vase?

I didn't even read past the thread title before knowing that I was going to post YY to YOU TWAT.

What an absolute embarrassment he is.

I am in for a twigs and pebbly shit Jubilee present.

Or we could knit her a blanket for her to smother Gove with

Surely something deeply patriotic with a Union Jack on it. Perhaps one of those charming 'Keep Calm and Carry on' mugs that everyone seems to love so much

I thiink HRH would probably like a Babyliss Big Hair, don't you?

Or a kindle?

I'm sure she's seen enough feckin yachts to last her a lifetime.

Gove really is shaping up to be THE coalition hate figure, isn't he? He's my personal favourite, anyway. (Favourite hate figure, I should clarify.)

I bet she re-gifts all her presents to Edward and Sophie anyway, because apparently they don't have much.

OK so the Queen has served her country & commonwealth for 60 years. Job done!! I think with all the palaces, jewels, gowns, guards, cars, planes etc she has been very well compensated for her time!

Gove is a dickhead of the highest order - the Queen probably (secretly) has a special joke award (some kind of anti-knighthood) for his type.

My friend is a boat builder, so at least it would give her some more work!

I agree with you though, lol. Since does 'a mark of respect' = yacht? I watch the christmas speech, and I'd curtsy if I knew how ever got to meet her, surely that's enough respect?

A teatowel would be good.

Ship in a bottle?

I am now hoping this wasn't a planned distraction from something bad going on in the background because it seems so idiotic even for Gove. Have enjoyed #thegoveboat on Twitter. Hope there are some good headlines on this tomorrow.

Mmelindor that's brilliant!

Unfuckingbelievable....

Gove .... exciting and new .... come aboard ... we're expecting you.

best thread title ever

some fab comments under that article

'I am glad we are all in this together otherwise I may think that a £60m gift to the worlds richest woman was a bit over the top.'

please please please can Billy Bragg be on question time this week

Michael Gove was not proposing a publicly funded yacht, although you may have missed that in the press coverage. His letter, whilst agreeing with the idea, said, "I agree, of course, that we should be clear that no public funding is available for the project, as this would not be appropriate in the current financial climate."

You may also have missed that this is not Gove's idea. It seems to have been proposed originally by Rear Admiral Bawtree of the Royal Navy. Gove wasn't even the first minister to pick up the idea.

The boat being discussed by Bawtree is the Future Ship Project which you can see here.

And will the Queen crew it herself?

prh47brudge, I didn't miss this: 'The education secretary writes: "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."

Nor did I miss his lamentable use of the comma above.

Or this:

Gove ends his letter by suggesting that if insufficient taxpayer funds are available a private donation could be sought, before making a naked departmental bid for every schoolchild or school to be given a gift as a permanent reminder of the event. Gove's office confirmed the authenticity of the letter but refused to comment.

What a silly fucker that man is.